Cornell University Become Latest Institution to Announce Deal With Trump Administration

Cornell University has become the latest Ivy League school to strike a settlement deal with the Trump Administration to restore federal funding.

The university based in Ithaca, New York had seen $250m worth of federal funding withheld by the Trump administration in April after they accused Cornell of violating civil rights laws.

The deal, announced on Friday, will witness the institution have over $250m in federal funding restored after agreeing to pay $30m directly to the U.S. government over three years, invest a further $30m over three years towards agricultural and farming research programs that will benefit U.S. agriculture, and share undergraduate admissions data with the administration.

“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,” Kotlikoff explained in a statement.

“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.”

Cornell becomes the fifth school to reach an agreement with the Trump administration in recent months in a move to restore millions of dollars worth of federal funding following Columbia University, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia.

“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 added.

White House spokesperson Liz Huston called the agreement a “major win for American students”.

“Under the President’s common sense leadership, academic excellence, merit, and accountability will continue to be restored across America’s universities,” Huston said in a statement.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon also praised the agreement, labelling it as “another transformative commitment from an Ivy League institution to end divisive DEI policies.”

The agreement represents part of the Trump administration’s comprehensive overhaul of American higher education, which began after taking office in January 2025. The broader initiative has resulted in billions of dollars in federal funding cuts affecting institutions throughout the United States.

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