Overview

• Columbia agreed to a $220 million settlement and Brown to a $50 million deal resolving federal allegations of racial discrimination and antisemitism to restore their access to federal funding.
• Both universities must submit anonymized admissions data broken down by race, grade-point average and standardized test scores to the U.S. Department of Education.
• The agreements mandate strict merit-based admissions, barring any consideration of race, color or national origin and prohibiting proxies for racial preference.
• Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the settlements ensure applicants are judged solely on academic merit, and President Trump declared “Woke is officially DEAD at Brown” when announcing the Brown deal.
• Experts warn that granular federal access to detailed admissions data could spur new legal challenges and dissuade universities from adopting holistic review practices.