Beginning on March 10, 2025, the Trump administration announced plans to cut research funding and grants to many top schools around the nation. Among the biggest targets of this campaign were Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, UCLA, Northwestern and Duke, whose funding cuts all eclipsed the $100 million mark. Reasons for the massive reductions include the major downsizing of federal institutions like the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, as well as something of a punishment for claims of anti-semitism at elite universities. This dates all the way back to Dec. 11, 2019, when the Trump administration passed the “Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism.” In light of conflicts in Israel and Palestine over the last few years, Trump expanded on this executive order on Jan. 29, 2025. Many, including a large percentage of students and faculty at top schools, have sided against the Israeli government in the matter, with many going so far as to deem their actions to root out Hamas as genocidal towards the Palestinian people. According to a poll by The Harvard Crimson last year, 37.8% of the class of 2028 viewed pro-Palestine protests favorably, compared to 23.7% unfavorably. The current administration believes that support of these viewpoints by universities is anti-Semitic.
On top of that, leveraging research funds has allowed Trump’s attack on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) to extend to higher education. Beyond the landmark court decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. vs. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down affirmative action in US college admissions, since Trump’s second term has started, he has issued executive orders 14190, 14173, 14168 and 14151, all related to getting rid of DEI and “indoctrination” in schools. According to US News and World Report, Trump has said that college campuses are “woke” and “infested with radicalism.” Naturally, this has been applied to university research as another justification for the cuts.
The stripped funding, and the subsequent deals made, terms and paid fines in order to restore them have been somewhat shrouded in secrecy. No single executive order or action led to research funding removal at each one of these top institutions. Instead, a slightly unique set of grievances has been put before each of the schools, and not all at the same time. According to Maine Public Radio, White House officials never formally announced the $510 million funding block for Brown University to the public, only informing The Brown Daily Herald and several large media outlets. Brian Clark, head spokesperson for the university, said that even Brown itself was initially left in the dark about the proceedings.
The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Donald Trump’s own alma mater, was the first to negotiate with the White House. The allegations surrounding UPenn were heavily tied to trans swimmer Lia Thomas’ NCAA titles, which right-wing politicians are eager to see stripped away. Per CNN, the university was not required to pay any sort of fine, but instead wrote apologies to swimmers that competed against Thomas and released a statement saying that it would better follow Title IX regulations in the future.
More recently, and more controversially, on July 23, 2025, Columbia University paid the Trump administration more than $220 million in order to restore the over $400 million for research that was frozen in the wake of rampant anti-semitism claims that stemmed from large encampments and protests that occurred on Columbia’s grounds, as reported by AP News. In general, those affiliated with Columbia are extremely displeased with the deal.
“It’s scary. One of the most concerning parts of it is how quickly it’s happening. In the space of less than a year, the damage that’s already been done, there’s been massive infringement on free speech; upon the freedom of educational institutions,” said an anonymous Columbia Law School student. “These institutions, which have traditionally been these sacred sources of knowledge and innovation, are now suddenly under the control of the government, who are essentially trying to squash any speech, demonstration, or organization that is opposed to them, which is the very kind of thing you would expect to see in a fascist regime.”
Not only is the money forfeited concerning, but the notion that these agreements only encourage the Trump administration’s coercive tactics in the future, is perhaps even more so.
“With these deals, there’s nothing in them that stops the administration from making future demands. To think that they can continue to pour things on, it truly is extortion,” the student continued. “When the deal was reached with Columbia, Trump essentially said that he hoped to use this deal as a blueprint for their ongoing investigations with other schools.”
Trump’s “blueprint” appears to be working, as the deals made by Brown and UCLA continue to restrict the freedoms of these institutions in a way that threatens their very core. Trump’s goal is to control the educational narrative; while he’s done so much easier with K-12 schooling through gutting programs like PBS, it was seen as unlikely that he could propagandize his way through universities with such intelligent, educated people at the helm.
Many see what’s gone on with higher education as extortionary. The Trump administration is furthering their social agenda by threatening scientific and economic advancement in the United States. These underappreciated benefits of university research are highlighted very clearly in a study by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.