Columbia University to pay $200 million settlement to federal government over anti-discrimination investigations
24. July 2025
Columbia University will pay a $200 million settlement to the federal government as part of an agreement to resolve investigations into alleged violations of anti-discrimination laws.
The school’s acting president insists the school will maintain its academic independence, while reinstating its terminated grants and allowing faculty to once again be eligible for future research grants.
Agreement restores federal funding for research grants
In a statement posted by Columbia’s Office of President, the university says the $200 million will be paid out over three years, along with an additional $21 million to settle investigations brought by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The Trump administration accused Columbia of failing to stop antisemitism on campus and has been withholding $400 million in federal grants from the school since early March.
The university says as part of the agreement, federal funding for research grants will be restored.
“While Columbia does not admit to wrongdoing with this resolution agreement, the institution’s leaders have recognized, repeatedly, that Jewish students and faculty have experienced painful, unacceptable incidents, and that reform was and is needed,” the statement said, in part.
The agreement also codifies changes Columbia announced back in March, including a ban on face masks or coverings intended to conceal an individual’s identity, a policy regarding protesters showing university IDs, and the hiring of special safety officers.
As part of the settlement, Columbia also agreed to follow laws banning the consideration of race in student admission and faculty hiring.
“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty. 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. Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest,” Acting University President Claire Shipman said in a statement.
Columbia says this deal will be overseen by an independent monitor who will report to the government on its progress every six months.
This agreement comes the same week Columbia suspended and expelled dozens of students involved in past campus protests.
Officials, organizations respond to settlement
In a post to Truth Social, President Trump praised the deal, calling it a “historic agreement with Columbia University.”
“Columbia has agreed to pay a penalty of $200 Million Dollars to the United States Government for violating Federal Law, in addition to over $20 Million to their Jewish employees who were unlawfully targeted and harassed,” Mr. Trump wrote. “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.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon also reacted to the settlement in a statement.
“Columbia’s reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate. I believe they will ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come. A sincere thank you to President Trump, members of the federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, and those at Columbia who negotiated over the last several months and made this deal a reality,” she said, in part.
The New York Civil Liberties Union said in part, “Instead of standing up for academic freedom, its core mission, and its faculty and students, Columbia has capitulated to the bullies.”
A spokesman for the organization Columbia Jewish and Israeli Students responded, “While we are delighted that federal funding has been restored so that students and faculty can return to their research, we are disappointed that this agreement did not achieve as many reforms as the federal government had initially sought.”
contributed to this report.