With Columbia as a model, White House seeks fines in potential deals with Harvard and others

WASHINGTON – The White House is pursuing heavy fines from Harvard and other universities as part of potential settlements to end investigations into campus antisemitism, using the deal it struck with Columbia University as a template, according to an administration official familiar with the matter.

Fines have become a staple of proposed deals in talks with Harvard and other schools, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The new strategy was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Federal civil rights investigations into schools and universities almost always have been resolved through voluntary settlements, yet they rarely include financial penalties. The Biden administration reached dozens of such deals with universities and none included fines.

Columbia's settlement with the Trump administration included a $200 million fine in exchange for regaining access to federal funding and closing investigations accusing Columbia of tolerating harassment of Jewish students and employees.

The agreement announced Wednesday also orders Columbia to ensure its admissions and hiring decisions are “merit-based” with no consideration of race, to hire more Jewish studies faculty, and to reduce the university’s reliance on international students, among other changes. It places Columbia under the watch of an independent monitor and requires regular disclosures to the government.

The agreement deal includes a clause forbidding the government from directly dictating decisions on hiring, admissions or academics. Columbia leaders said it preserves the university's autonomy while restoring the flow of federal money.

The Trump administration is investigating dozens of universities over allegations that they failed to address campus antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war, and several institutions have faced federal funding freezes, like those at Columbia and Harvard.

The federal government has frozen more than $1 billion at Cornell University, along with $790 million at Northwestern University.

In announcing the Columbia settlement, administration officials described it as a template for other universities. Education Secretary Linda McMahon called it a “roadmap” for colleges looking to regain public trust, saying it would “ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.”

As Trump departed the White House on Friday, he told reporters that Harvard “wants to settle” but that Columbia “handled it better.” The president said he's optimistic his administration will prevail in Harvard's legal challenge — at least on appeal — and he suggested Harvard may never regain the level of federal funding it received in the past.

“The bottom line is we’re not going to give any more money to Harvard,” he said. “We want to spread the wealth.”

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