Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Sally Kornbluth on Friday said she "cannot support" a memo that the White House sent to nine elite U.S. universities last week detailing policies they should follow to get preferential consideration for federal funding.

In an open letter to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Kornbluth said some of the policies would restrict MIT's independence and freedom of expression.

"The premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone," Kornbluth said in her letter, which was posted to an MIT website.

Some of the policies included in the memo were capping international undergraduate enrollment at 15%, banning the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions and defining genders based on biology.

Schools that pursue "models and values" beyond those outlined in the memo could "forgo federal benefits," the memo reads, while institutions that comply could be rewarded.

MIT was the first university to refuse to support the White House memo, which followed Republican President Donald Trump's efforts to use financial pressure to force some of the country's top institutions of higher learning to submit to unprecedented control over who and what they teach.

Other universities said they were studying the administration's demands and drafting responses.

White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement that the Trump administration was only calling for universities to end discrimination.

"Any university that refuses this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform higher education isn't serving its students or their parents – they’re bowing to radical, left-wing bureaucrats," Huston said.

The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brown University was one of the universities that received the memo, even though it reached a deal with the federal government in July, agreeing to pay $50 million over 10 years to support workforce development in Rhode Island in exchange for the government unfreezing $510 million in funding for medical and health sciences research.

In an open letter on Friday, Brown President Christina Paxson said she was working with her university community to draft a response to the memo.

On Monday, the University of Virginia's rector and interim president announced the formation of a working group to advise the university on how to respond, but said that "it would be difficult for the University to agree to certain provisions" in the memo.

Dartmouth University, the University of Arizona, the University of Southern California and Vanderbilt also sent statements saying they were deciding how to respond.

The University of Texas had said earlier this month that it was "enthusiastically" looking forward to working with the administration.

The White House's 10-point memo called for "transforming or abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas," but did not include similar measures to protect liberal ideas.

It also proposed that the Classic Learning Test, embraced by some conservatives and already authorised for use by Florida's public university system, be among the college entrance exams considered alongside the SAT and ACT.

Since Trump took office in January, his White House has targeted what it deems liberal-leaning institutions in various fields and tried to withhold funding from colleges and universities over 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.

The administration's threats to cut off federal funding to schools such as Harvard University for allegedly favouring "radical left" policies have hit legal roadblocks.