Trump Administration Reaches $30 Million Settlement with Cornell University Restoring Federal Research Funds
President Donald J. Trump has reached a major $30 million settlement agreement with Cornell University that brings an end to months of federal investigations into the school’s research funding and civil rights compliance. Under the terms of the deal, Cornell will pay $30 million to the United States government and invest an additional $30 million in agricultural research programs. In exchange, more than $250 million in previously frozen federal research funds will be restored to the Ivy League institution.
The settlement also requires Cornell to provide anonymized undergraduate admissions data to the federal government through 2028 and to conduct yearly campus climate surveys to ensure compliance with federal non-discrimination and transparency standards. This move comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to hold major universities accountable for what it describes as “biased diversity, equity, and inclusion policies” and to address concerns about campus antisemitism and fairness in higher education funding.
White House officials hailed the settlement as a significant step toward restoring accountability in the nation’s academic institutions. The Department of Education confirmed that the resolution with Cornell marks one of the largest compliance settlements reached with a U.S. university under President Trump’s leadership.
