Columbia to pay $221M to restore funding cut by Trump administration
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Columbia to pay $221M to restore funding cut by Trump administration
President Trump announced the agreement on Wednesday night in a Truth Social post celebrating the win for his administration. In June, a judge dismissed a lawsuit led by Columbia’s faculty, ruling that only the school had grounds to sue the government for revoking its funds. “Columbia has also committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and protecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus,” the president said in the post. The school will pay a $200 million settlement to the federal government over a three-year period.
The school, according to the settlement, will pay a $200 million settlement to the federal government over a three-year period and $21 million to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” Acting University President Claire Shipman said in a statement.
“The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track,” she added.
The interim president said the Trump administration deal will allow the school to maintain its academic independence after losing $400 million in grant funding earlier this year.
In June, a judge dismissed a lawsuit led by Columbia’s faculty, ruling that only the school had grounds to sue the government for revoking its funds.
“Columbia’s longstanding research partnership with the federal government is vital to advancing our nation’s progress in key areas of science, technology, and medicine,” Board of Trustees Co-Chairs David Greenwald and Jeh Johnson said in a statement on the matter.
“We are proud of the role we play in advancing this public service and preparing the next generations of students to meet complex challenges around the world,” they added.
President Trump announced the agreement on Wednesday night in a Truth Social post celebrating the win for his administration.
“It’s a great honor to have been involved, and I want to thank and congratulate Secretary Linda McMahon, and all those who worked with us on this important deal,” he wrote. “I also want to thank and commend Columbia University for agreeing to do what is right. I look forward to watching them have a great future in our Country, maybe greater than ever before!”
He warned earlier in the post that other schools could face similar measures to motivate the erasure of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which the administration has deemed discriminatory.
“Columbia has also committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and protecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus,” he wrote in the post.
“Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming,” the president added.