Cornell University secures deal with Trump admin to restore federal funding

Cornell University announced a deal Friday with the Trump administration that restores millions of dollars in federal funding, ending months of negotiations and investigations into the Ivy League institution.

The administration froze $1 billion of funding for Cornell and $790 million for Northwestern in April amid an investigation into alleged civil rights violations at both schools. 

Cornell noted that it has not been found guilty of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in any of the investigations or reviews of university programs pending at the Department of Justice, Department of Education, or Department of Health and Human Services, and said the government has agreed to close all of these investigations and reviews.

The agreement further recognizes the school's right to independently establish its policies and procedures, choose whom to hire and admit, and determine what is taught at the institution without input from the federal government.

"In short, it recognizes our rights, as a private university, to define the conditions on our campuses that advance learning and produce new knowledge," President Michael Kotlikoff said in a statement.

The university, in exchange for the resumption of federal funding, will invest $30 million over three years in research to strengthen U.S. agriculture, and $30 million to the U.S. government over the next three years for closing pending claims that have been brought against the university.

"With this resolution, Cornell looks forward to resuming the long and fruitful partnership with the federal government that has yielded, for so many years, so much progress and well-being for our nation and our world," Kotlikoff concluded.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.