Columbia University reaches settlement with Trump administration
News | By Easton Martin | July 24, 2025
Columbia University announced it has reached a settlement with the Trump administration to resolve federal protests and civil rights investigations related to campus antisemitism.
The agreement includes a payment of $200 million over three years to the federal government and an additional $21 million to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, totaling approximately $221 million.
The settlement follows the administration’s suspension of roughly $400 million in federal grants, including critical NIH funding, due to alleged failures by Columbia to address the harassment of Jewish and Israeli students during recent campus protests over the war in Gaza.
As part of the deal, Columbia has agreed to adopt the federal IHRA definition of antisemitism, restructure its student disciplinary process by banning masks at protests, increase oversight of Middle Eastern studies programs, and scale back race-based preferences in hiring and admissions.
In return, most of the paused federal funds will be reinstated. A federally appointed monitor will assess the university’s compliance every six months.
Columbia has not admitted wrongdoing but acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and pledged to ensure a safer environment for Jewish students.
