By Betsy Klein

(CNN) — Columbia University announced on Wednesday that it has reached a deal with the Trump administration following months of negotiation to restore federal funding to the school, in a move described by the administration as a “seismic shift” in its fight with elite higher education.

Under the terms of the deal to resolve several federal probes into allegations that it had violated anti-discrimination laws, Columbia did not admit to wrongdoing but agreed to pay the government a $200 million settlement over three years and an additional $21 million to settle US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigations.

In exchange, the university said in its statement, “a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March 2025 — will be reinstated and Columbia’s access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored.”

Columbia said the agreement also codifies policy changes it announced in March following the revocation of $400 million in federal funding over campus protests, including restrictions on demonstrations, new disciplinary procedures and immediately reviewing its Middle East curriculum.

“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 university said.

An independent monitor will oversee the agreement’s implementation.

“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,” acting university President Claire Shipman said in a statement. “Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest.”

Still, the university has agreed to provide the Trump administration with access to “all relevant data and information to rigorously assess compliance with its commitment to merit-based hiring and admissions,” a senior White House official said.

The agreement, the official added, “mandates a comprehensive review of Columbia’s portfolio of programs in regional areas, starting with those relating to the Middle East.”

And the school agreed to review its admissions process and “strengthen oversight of international students,” according to the official. Columbia will “assess applicants’ reasons for wishing to study in the U.S., sharing relevant data with the Federal Government,” the official said.

President Donald Trump celebrated the agreement in a post on Truth Social Wednesday evening, where he thanked Education Secretary Linda McMahon for her work on the deal and commended Columbia “for agreeing to do what is right.”

“Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming,” he added.

Columbia faced financial headwinds

Shipman noted in a message to the Columbia community on Wednesday evening that the financial pressures on the school extended beyond the $400 million funding freeze.

“We have seen not only $400 million in federal grants frozen, but also the majority of our $1.3 billion a year in federal funding placed on hold. The prospect of that continuing indefinitely, along with the potential loss of top scientists, would jeopardize our status as a world-leading research institution,” she said in the letter.

In her first interview since the deal was announced, Shipman framed the federal funding freeze as an existential threat to the university that needed to be resolved, saying finding an agreement with the White House was the “responsible path.”

“This resolution is really going to allow us to turn a page on a period of deep instability for our institution,” she told CNN’s Kate Bolduan Thursday.

Shipman defended the school from accusations that it capitulated to the Trump administration.

“The narrative that paints this as a kind of binary situation, courage versus capitulation, is just wrong. It’s too simplistic. This was a really, really complex problem, and I will argue over and over again that choosing to listen, choosing to try to solve the problem with everything that we had at stake is not capitulation. It was extraordinarily difficult,” Shipman said.

Shipman said her team weighed the possibility of taking the Trump administration to court but determined that the threat of long-term damage was too severe.

“We did carefully at that, and we saw we could have some short-term victories, but we worried we would have long term damage. For example, we could have faced the loss of any future relationship in the coming years with the federal government, and that would have effectively meant an end to the research mission we conduct as we know it,” she said.

The acting president cast the agreement as a “reset” for Columbia’s relationship with the federal government, describing “deep deliberation and almost word-by-word negotiation” with the White House over months – a process that, she said, “took longer than anticipated.”

Last month, Shipman described the financial pressures that university was facing because of the administration’s campaign as “increasingly acute.”

“Columbia’s top scientists are facing the decimation of decades of research. Graduate students, postdocs, mid-career researchers, and established, celebrated scientists, have all had their breakthroughs lauded by the world one minute and defunded the next. We’re in danger of reaching a tipping point in terms of preserving our research excellence and the work we do for humanity,” Shipman said.

‘Roadmap for elite universities’

The Trump administration believes that the deal could serve as a blueprint for other schools.

McMahon heralded the outcome as a “seismic shift in our nation’s fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassment” and said the school’s reforms mark “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,” McMahon said.

Elite schools like Columbia and Harvard University, among others, have faced intense pressure from the Trump administration to crack down on antisemitism on their campuses  – or face the possible loss of significant federal funding. The effort is part of a broad administration push for policy changes at universities – including over Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and other initiatives – that Trump sees as a winning political issue. But it is one that raises major questions about academic freedom and the role of the federal government on college campuses.

The White House official touted the $21 million settlement of US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigations as “the largest employment-discrimination public settlement in almost 20 years.” That money, according to the official, will “resolve alleged civil rights violations against Jewish Columbia employees that occurred on its campus following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.”

The $200 million will go to the US Treasury, a senior administration official told CNN on Thursday.

Pressed for specifics, the official said, “This is money that is going to be sort of residing in the US Treasury, but there would need to be a specific appropriation in order to, like, spend it on something,” later adding that the policy focus for the money would be on trade schools and apprenticeships.

CNN reported last month that the administration was nearing an agreement with Columbia, and the school’s board met in early July to review the terms of the deal, according to a source familiar with the process.

The university, which was facing an investigation into its handling of antisemitism on campus, had taken a less confrontational approach than Harvard while it sought to reach a deal, and a source familiar with the matter told CNN that the administration was more amenable to Columbia’s proposed terms in behind-the-scenes negotiations. In June, the Trump administration threatened to pull the university’s accreditation over policies it said violated discrimination laws, the source said.

Asked about the state of talks, Trump told CNN earlier this month, “I think we’re going to probably settle with Harvard. We’re going to probably settle with Columbia. They want to settle very badly. There’s no rush.”

Asked how much money the settlement would entail, Trump said, “A lot of money.”

A source involved in universities’ response to the administration told CNN last month that the White House has been looking to strike a deal with a high-profile school.

“They want a name-brand university to make a deal like the law firms made a deal that covers not just antisemitism and protests, but DEI and intellectual diversity,” this person said at the time.

Asked if any of the schools are inclined to make such a deal, the source said, “Nobody wants to be the first, but the financial pressures are getting real.”

The settlement was met with support from the school’s Hillel.

“This announcement is an important recognition of what Jewish students and their families have expressed with increasing urgency: antisemitism at Columbia is real, and it has had a tangible impact on Jewish students’ sense of safety and belonging and, in turn, their civil rights. Acknowledging this fact is essential, and along with the new path laid out by the President and Trustees, I am hopeful that today’s agreement marks the beginning of real, sustained change,” Brian Cohen, executive director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel, said.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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