Columbia Agreed To Give $221 Million To Trump Administration: Here's What This Means

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — As the fight to restore $400 million in federal funding continues, Columbia University officials said the school had reached an agreement to resolve multiple federal discrimination investigations and would pay the government an eye-popping total of $221 million.

Over the next three years, the school will pay $200 million to the federal government, Acting President Claire Shipman said in a school-wide letter.

The university will also pay $21 million to settle investigations brought on by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she said.

Here's what the university is getting in return: Shipman said the settlement preserves Columbia's authority over hiring, admissions, and other academic decision-making.

The settlement also means that the majority of the federal grants, which were terminated or paused in March, will be restored. The school will also now be eligible for future federal grants.

"This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty," Shipman said.

The agreement is the latest in a saga that started back on March 7, when the Trump administration pulled more than $400 million in federal contracts and grants from Columbia University due to what it called the school's "continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students," amid recent pro-Palestinian protests.

Shortly after, federal officials sent Columbia a list of demands that, if met, would release the funds.

"All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests," Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. "Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Then, on March 21, Columbia published a document outlining all the changes that would be made, including improving a "commitment to greater institutional neutrality" and expanding programming at the school's Tel Aviv campus. In Wednesday's letter, Shipman said this multi-million dollar settlement would codify all the reforms outlined in the document. See the full document here.

"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," Shipman said, adding that the settlement does not admit to any wrongdoing but acknowledges that reform was needed after Jewish students and faculty had experienced painful incidents on campus.

"Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest," Shipman said.

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