Updated November 7, 2025 at 3:53 PM EST
Cornell University has struck a deal with the federal government to restore its lost funding.
Under the terms of the settlement, the university will pay $30 million directly to the federal government. It will distribute a further $30 million in grants to research programs that "directly benefit U.S. farmers through lower costs of production and enhanced efficiency, including but not limited to programs that incorporate AI and robotics."
In April, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration froze $1 billion in federal funding to Cornell over alleged civil rights violations.
In a statement announcing the settlement, University President Michael Kotlikoff said that Cornell had $250 million in funding interrupted since April.
"The months of stop-work orders, grant terminations, and funding freezes have stalled cutting-edge research, upended lives and careers, and threatened the future of academic programs at Cornell," Kotlikoff said.
Earlier this year the university, which is the largest employer in Tompkins County, instituted a hiring freeze and announced plans to reduce its workforce. The university declined to answer WSKG's questions about what the settlement means for previously announced cost saving measures, including its hiring freeze and its plan to cut staff.
The agreement also ends civil rights investigations into the university.
The university was one of a number of colleges facing investigations by The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights over allegations of antisemitic discrimination and harassment and racial discrimination in admissions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
"The Trump Administration has secured another transformative commitment from an Ivy League institution to end divisive DEl policies," said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. "Thanks to this deal with Cornell and the ongoing work of DOJ, HHS, and the team at ED, U.S. universities are refocusing their attention on merit, rigor, and truth seeking – not ideology. These reforms are a huge win in the fight to restore excellence to American higher education and make our schools the greatest in the world."
As part of the agreement, Cornell will give the federal government access to its anonymized undergraduate admissions data.
The agreement requires the university to "continue to conduct annual surveys to evaluate the campus climate for Cornell students, including the climate for students with shared Jewish ancestry."
It also says Cornell must continue to follow regulations around reporting foreign gifts and "will comply with reasonable and lawful requests from the United States for information related to foreign funding sources."
Cornell is also obligated to "as needed engage experts on laws and regulations regarding sanctions enforcement, anti-money laundering, and prevention of terrorist financing."
Kotlikoff said that the deal, "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."
Cornell is the fifth university to strike a deal with the federal government to restore pulled funding. This summer, reporting from Bloomberg said that the university was poised to strike a $100 million deal with the government, but that settlement never materialized.
Columbia University, the first college to strike a deal, paid out $220 million and made significant policy changes, including giving arrest powers to some security.
Cornell's agreement lasts until the end of 2028.
This is a developing story and will be updated as we receive more information.
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