Overview

• The settlement, formalized on July 23, saw Columbia pay $200 million in fines plus $21 million to resolve antisemitism and discrimination claims, unlocking most of its previously frozen $400 million in federal research grants.
• Mandated reforms include rolling back diversity initiatives, adopting race-neutral admissions and hiring practices, disclosing detailed admissions and international student disciplinary data, and overhauling its Middle Eastern studies curriculum.
• Education Secretary Linda McMahon described the Columbia deal as a model, as the administration advances similar compliance negotiations with Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Princeton and Harvard under suspended funding or active civil rights probes.
• Additional investigations launched July 23 by the State and Education Departments target Harvard’s eligibility in the Exchange Visitor Program and alleged discrimination in scholarship programs at five public universities.
• Legal scholars warn that the administration’s bilateral grant-withholding approach, bypassing formal rulemaking, raises constitutional and academic freedom concerns over federal influence on university governance.