Cornell University to pay $30 million to federal government in deal with Trump administration to restore funding

Washington — Cornell University has reached an agreement with the Trump administration to restore federal funding, with the university to pay $30 million directly to the federal government to put an end to claims by the Justice Department. Cornell will also invest $30 million in U.S. agriculture research. 

Cornell is one of the many universities the Department of Education warned it was investigating for potential Title VI violations related to antisemitic harassment and discrimination amid campus protests over the war in Gaza. It was also one of the schools officials were investigating over how it considers race in the admissions process. The University of Virginia also recently reached an agreement with the Trump administration that resulted in the administration dropping probes into the university. 

“Since April of this year, Cornell has been subject to more than $250 million in federal funding interruptions, which have disrupted the research of faculty and students across all campuses,” Cornell President Michael I. Kotlikoff wrote in a letter addressed to the Cornell community. “Today I write to share that Cornell has reached an agreement with the federal government to immediately restore and continue the university’s research funding.”

He noted, “The resolution is explicit that Cornell’s agreement to these terms is not an admission of wrongdoing.”

In return for the payments, to be made over three years, Kotlikoff said the federal government has agreed to close all investigations and reviews into Cornell.

“Cornell has not been found in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in any of the investigations or compliance reviews of the university’s programs pending at the Department of Justice, Department of Education, or Department of Health and Human Services, and the government has agreed to close all of these investigations and reviews,” the letter said. “The government has further agreed to restore terminated federal grants, release all withheld funds for active grants, and consider Cornell fully eligible for new grants and funding awards, without disadvantage or preference.”

Kotlikoff said the agreement “explicitly recognizes Cornell’s right to independently establish our policies and procedures, choose whom to hire and admit, and determine what we teach, without intrusive government monitoring or approvals.”

CBS News has reached out to the White House for comment.