Why Trump Wants to Control Universities

Radio Atlantic · Apr 3, 2025 · 32m

If the Trump administration’s actions and rhetoric against universities sound vaguely familiar, that may be because they’ve already happened elsewhere. Over the years, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has dismantled his country’s higher-education system; cracked down on diversity, dissent, and critical thinking; and cast academic institutions as dangerous.

So what does that mean for the future of higher ed in America?

Further reading:

Ian Bogost on “The End of College Life”

Anne Applebaum on “America’s Future Is Hungary”

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