Cornell to pay $60M in deal with Trump administration to restore federal research funding

Cornell University announced Friday it has reached a deal with the Trump administration to restore more than $250 million in funding to the school.  

The deal, which includes $60 million in spending from the school, restarts the funding and ends all federal investigations into the university after the administration accused Cornell of racial discrimination and antisemitism violations. 

“The decades-long research partnership between Cornell and the federal government is critical to advancing the university’s core mission and to our continuing contributions to the nation’s health, welfare, and economic and military strength. This agreement revives that partnership, while affirming the university’s commitment to the principles of academic freedom, independence, and institutional autonomy that, from our founding, have been integral to our excellence,” said Michael I. Kotlikoff, president of Cornell. 

Cornell will pay a $30 million fine to the government and invest $30 million into agriculture and farming programs.  

It also agreed to continue annual surveys to assess the campus climate and specifically get a review of the environment for Jewish students. The university will also give anonymized admission data to the Trump administration through the end of 2028. 

“I will personally certify our institutional compliance with the agreement on a regular basis, and Cornell will provide anonymized admissions data and continue to conduct campus climate surveys and carry out foreign gift and contract reporting in accordance with existing law,” said Kotlikoff 

Cornell is the fifth known institution to accept a deal with the Trump administration to restore funding and get government investigations dropped, although the deal does not bar the administration from opening new compliance reviews against Cornell in the future. 

“President Trump has once again delivered a major win for American students with this Cornell University deal. Under the President’s commonsense leadership, academic excellence, merit, and accountability will continue to be restored across America’s universities," said Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson.

Pulling funding to reach agreements with universities has been a popular tactic of the Trump administration to attempt institutional change in higher education.  

Cornell avoided the big payouts suffered by other schools, such as Columbia and Brown universities.  

The Trump administration is still reportedly in talks with Harvard University and the University of California to strike a deal to restore funding to those institutions.