[tanaros]

My hypothesis: it is about control.

Education level is correlated with voting preference [0].

US universities are funded in large part by scientific research grants. Cutting funding directly damages these institutions, and it gives the current administration leverage they can use to influence university political policies through either overt ultimatums (cut DEI or we don’t give you the money) or indirectly by funding professors with pro-administration viewpoints while defunding professors with anti-administration viewpoints.

[0]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1535279/presidential-ele...