Columbia University to pay over $200m to resolve Trump probes

Columbia University, on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, announced that it will pay over $200 million to the United States government in a settlement with President Donald Trump’s administration to resolve federal probes and have most of its suspended federal funding restored.

Trump has targeted several universities since returning to office in January over the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that roiled college campuses last year.

The president welcomed the agreement between his administration and Columbia University in a post on social media on Wednesday night.

In March, the Trump administration said it was penalizing Columbia University over how it handled last year’s protests by cancelling $400 million in federal funding. It contended that Columbia’s response to alleged antisemitism and harassment of Jewish and Israeli members of the university community was insufficient.

“Under today’s agreement, a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March 2025 – will be reinstated and Columbia’s access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored,” the university said in a statement.

Columbia University said it also agreed to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $21 million and that its deal with the Trump administration preserved its “autonomy and authority over faculty hiring, admissions, and academic decision-making.”

After the government cancelled funding, the school acquiesced later in March to a series of demands that included scrutiny of departments offering courses on the Middle East and other concessions that were widely condemned by U.S. academics.

Trump accuses Harvard University of anti-Semitism, threatens more cuts

Last week, Columbia University adopted a controversial definition of antisemitism that equates it with opposition to Zionism.

The university said it would no longer engage with pro-Palestinian group Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Reuters reported.

“Imagine selling your students out just so you can pay Trump $221 million and keep funding genocide,” the pro-Palestinian group said on Wednesday, calling the settlement a bribe.

Wednesday’s announcement came a day after Columbia disciplined dozens of students over a May pro-Palestinian protest in which demonstrators seized its main library.

The agreement asks Columbia to “undertake a comprehensive review of its international admissions processes and policies,” according to the deal’s terms.

Columbia University is required to designate within 30 days an administrator answerable to the university president and responsible for overseeing the deal’s compliance.

The deal requires Columbia to appoint an additional administrator to look at alleged antisemitism and suggest recommendations.

The Star