By James Oliphant and Kanishka SinghWASHINGTON (Reuters) -After attempting to bludgeon U.S. colleges and universities into complying with its ideological mandates, the Trump administration is trying a new tactic: using financial incentives to encourage schools to comply. The White House on Wednesday sent a memo titled “A Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” to nine elite U.S. universities, detailing a series of policies schools can follow to receive preferential treatment in receiving federal funds. The universities of Southern California and Virginia told Reuters that university officials are still reviewing the White House’s memo. The University of Texas said it was “enthusiastically” looking forward to working with the administration on its requirements. Schools that agree to the terms of the memo will be required to hire an independent auditor to evaluate the university’s performance.