The Heritage Foundation released model state legislation on August 6, 2026, giving state lawmakers ready-made bill text to codify the Trump Administration's higher education compact at the public college level. The draft, titled "An Act to Refocus Colleges and Universities on Their Fundamental Academic Mission," comes from the same think tank behind Project 2025's education overhaul blueprint.
The White House sent its Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education to nine universities in October 2025, and most declined, including MIT, which rejected it over free expression concerns.
Heritage's answer: states shouldn't wait for schools to sign voluntarily. The model bill would let state agencies condition funding on compliance, a strategy we've tracked as federal education policy fights move to the states.
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Why It Matters
The bill's opening findings lean on money: student loan debt has passed $1.8 trillion nationally, and FREOPP research finds almost half of master's degree programs leave graduates financially worse off. Our own student loan debt statistics show how that burden falls on borrowers.
The most unusual provision puts colleges on the hook directly. If a public university admits a student whose test scores and grades predict a low chance of graduating, and that student doesn't finish within eight years, the school would pay off a share of the student's remaining federal loans.
That flips the risk model behind federal accountability rules that cut loans from low-earning programs, instead of punishing programs after the fact, it charges schools for risky admissions decisions.
The proposal mirrors our thoughts on college accountability from several years back.
The Details
Other provisions in the model bill include:
- Program cuts tied to earnings. State regulators would review every academic program at least once every five years against graduate earnings, completion rates, and job placement, with power to consolidate or shut down programs, and to terminate faculty regardless of tenure.
- Mandatory outcome disclosure. Every institution would publish its College Scorecard earnings data by program on its own website.
- DEI office bans and institutional neutrality, mirroring laws already passed in Texas and Florida.
- Foreign gift disclosure at a $50,000 threshold, with governor-level approval required for agreements with China, Russia, Iran, and other listed countries.
- Campus police ICE agreements under the federal 287(g) program as a condition of state funding.
- Tenure override. If a program is flagged for consolidation, discontinuation, or enrollment caps, the state or the institution could terminate its faculty, and the bill states that no law, contract, or collective bargaining agreement, including tenure, can block it.
How This Connects
The earnings-based program review echoes what's already happening federally, where low-earning degrees are losing access to federal student loans under the accountability rules Congress passed in 2025.
For students, both point the same direction: before enrolling, check what graduates of a specific program actually earn. Our college ROI calculator can help run those numbers.
Watch 2027 state legislative sessions. Heritage notes some states have already adopted pieces of this agenda, and model bills from the group have historically moved fastest in Florida and Texas. The loan payback and tenure- verride provisions are the ones to watch as they go further than any current state law, and would face the strongest pushback from institutions.
Families comparing schools can start with our breakdown of whether college is worth the investment.
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Editor: Colin Graves
Robert Farrington is the founder of The College Investor and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading voices on student loan debt and saving for college. He holds an MBA from UC San Diego Rady School of Management and has spent over 15 years researching, writing, and advising on student loans, 529 plans, financial aid programs, and saving and investing for young professionals.
Robert has been featured in the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC News, and Forbes, where he has been a regular personal finance contributor for over a decade. His work combines both professional expertise and personal experience – he successfully navigated his own student loan repayment journey and has helped thousands of readers do the same.
He is committed to making the intersection of personal finance and education transparent and accessible. You can learn more about Robert on the About Page or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.