UPDATE 1-White House sets hiring, foreign enrolment terms for colleges to get funding advantage, WSJ reports

(Adds university names, quotes from reported letter and comments from official cited by WSJ in paragraphs 7-9) WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump's administration has asked U.S. colleges to sign a deal on certain terms to get preferential access to federal funds, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday, citing a 10-point memo. An initial round of nine schools was asked to sign the wide-ranging accord, the newspaper reported. The memo demands that schools ban the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions, freeze tuition for five years, cap international undergrad enrollment at 15%, require that applicants take the SAT or a similar test, and quell grade inflation, the report added. The White House and the U.S. Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Since taking office, Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for universities over a range of issues such as pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel's war in Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Rights advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the Trump administration's actions that they say are aimed at aligning universities with the Republican president's political agenda. Trump has alleged the universities harbor "anti-American" values. Letters were sent on Wednesday to solicit agreement and feedback from Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia, the Wall Street Journal reported. Universities that sign on will get "multiple positive benefits," including "substantial and meaningful federal grants," according to the letter addressed to university leaders that the newspaper quoted. May Mailman, senior adviser for special projects at the White House, told the newspaper that the Trump administration hoped the schools would see the step as "reasonable." (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Kim Coghill and Michael Perry)

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