Cornell University has reached an agreement with the Trump administration to restore $250 million in federal funding after a pause due to alleged wrongdoing.
To restore research funds and end investigations into alleged civil rights violations, the Ivy League school has agreed to pay $60 million to the U.S. government.
The university has become the latest to negotiate in response to the President Trump’s campaign to remake higher education.
The administration froze over $1 billion in funding to the university in April, claiming the upstate New York school made insufficient efforts to curb antisemitism.
“The months of stop-work orders, grant terminations and funding freezes have stalled cutting-edge research, upended lives and careers, and threatened the future of academic programs at Cornell,” Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff said in a statement.
He said the agreement affirms the university’s commitment to “the principles of academic freedom, independence and institutional autonomy.”
He also contended that the university has not been found in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in any of the investigations or compliance reviews of the university’s programs.
Cornell will pay the U.S. government $30 million over three years as a condition for ending pending claims brought against the university, according to the agreement.
The school has 30 days to pay the first installment.
It will also invest $30 million over three years toward research that supports farmers and agriculture.
“With this resolution, Cornell looks forward to resuming the long and fruitful partnership with the federal government that has yielded, for so many years, so much progress and well-being for our nation and our world,” Mr. Kotlikoff said.
The agreement requires Cornell to continue annual surveys to evaluate the campus climate for students, including those with shared Jewish ancestry. The surveys will include questions about antisemitism.
The Education Department, among other agencies, investigated Harvard University for allegedly fostering antisemitism, finding that it violated federal civil rights law by failing to protect Jewish students on campus.
In July, Columbia University finalized an agreement with the federal government after grants were terminated or paused in March.
The school will pay a $200 million settlement over three years to the feds.
