The education secretary during Monday's interview also strongly criticized what she described as declining academic rigor and grade inflation. "They reduced the quality and the rigor of grading, and we cannot have that in our higher universities," McMahon said. The Trump administration has previously pushed for higher education reforms. Last year, it introduced the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, an initiative which outlined requirements for admission, tuition, hiring and more. McMahon is hopeful that higher education is beginning to move in a different direction.