In new agreement with Trump administration, Columbia University to pay $200 million fine
The Ivy League school in New York City struck another deal with the Trump administration in an attempt to restore its federal funding.
WASHINGTON – Columbia University, in hopes of restoring hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen funding, has struck another deal with the Trump administration, the university announced.
The Ivy League school in New York City will pay a $200 million fine over three years to the government to settle allegations it violated federal civil rights laws and failed to protect members of its Jewish community from discrimination.
It will also jointly appoint an independent monitor to update the federal government on its compliance with new policies, and pay an additional $21 million fine to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The agreement marks the second major concession from the university in its protracted negotiations with the government. Despite the drawn-out talks, and many compromises on Columbia's part, the Trump administration has yet to reroute hundreds of millions of dollars back to the school.
The school previously agreed, among other things, to bolster campus law enforcement, appoint a new administrator to oversee its Middle Eastern studies department and retool its protest policies in an effort to assuage the White House.
Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, said in a statement that the agreement preserves the university’s independence and will restore research funding, including from the National Institutes of Health, on which the school depends.
“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” she said. “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.”
In a statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon hailed the accord as the culmination of years of pressure from conservatives to reshape college campuses.
“The Trump Administration's deal with Columbia University is a seismic shift in our nation’s fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassment, she said.
The announcement also comes after the Trump administration pushed the University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League school, to agree to a series of demands related to preventing transgender athletes from competing. Similarly, that deal was reached to restore massive amounts of federal money.
Meanwhile, Columbia has been facing a separate battle over its accreditation status, which the school needs in order to distribute federal financial aid dollars to students.
The Education Department has pushed Columbia's accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, to reevaluate its standing. Though Middle States has placed the university on warning, such a step would be virtually unprecedented, and a long and complex process would have to be followed before its accreditation could be revoked.
The new agreement, which was viewed by Paste BN, resolves the government's accusations about Columbia violating the standards of its accreditation. According to the deal, the Education Department said it would notify Middle States within two weeks of the change.
(This story has been updated to add more information.)
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for Paste BN. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.