Columbia University has reached a $200 million settlement with the Trump administration after being accused of failing to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestine protests on its New York campus last year.

The deal, announced by the university and confirmed by the president online, comes after months of federal pressure and the freezing of $400 million in grants in March.

The university said it will pay the amount over three years, while the government will reinstate most of the suspended research funding as part of the agreement.

Columbia was the first institution targeted under the Trump administration’s campaign to hold universities accountable for antisemitism, sparked by demonstrations linked to Israel’s war in Gaza. The university had already agreed to meet several White House demands earlier this year.

“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” said Columbia’s acting president Claire Shipman.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon described the deal as “a seismic shift in our nation’s fight” to make universities answer for how they handle campus protests and federal funding.

In his statement on Truth Social, Trump celebrated the agreement and outlined changes Columbia would make, including ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and adopting a merit-only admissions system.

“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,” he posted.

He added, “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.”

Columbia is one of hundreds of schools now under scrutiny. According to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, the Trump administration has moved to terminate more than 4,000 grants worth around $8 billion at over 600 universities across the US.

The clampdown also targets other issues like transgender athletes and DEI programmes.

The funding freeze in March had a direct effect on Columbia’s research activities, with Shipman warning in June that the university was reaching a “tipping point.”

Columbia was then forced to restructure its campus operations and Middle Eastern studies department to comply with the federal government’s conditions.

It also hired a new team of “special officers” who are allowed to arrest students and remove them from campus, especially in protest situations.

The agreement also outlines the appointment of an independent monitor, jointly selected by the university and the government, to oversee implementation of the reforms.

Among the changes, Columbia will increase oversight of student groups, discipline those involved in the pro-Gaza encampment, require identification during demonstrations, ban face coverings at protests, and expand the number of campus officers.

The university insisted that the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.

Shipman said the deal “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.” She added that it would also protect the school’s independence.

While Columbia has chosen to comply, the move has drawn criticism from those who feel the university gave up too much to preserve its federal funding.

Harvard, by contrast, has refused to concede and instead filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

The White House has suspended billions of dollars in funding to Harvard and is also seeking to strip the university’s ability to enrol international students.

The legal battle between Harvard — the wealthiest university in the country — and the Trump administration began this week with court hearings underway.

Trump officials say Columbia’s compliance sets the tone for how elite schools should respond.
McMahon said the reforms made at Columbia would “ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.”

She added, “I believe they will ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.”