The Trump administration announced the freezing of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University on March 7, 2025, citing the university's failure to adequately address antisemitism following pro-Palestinian protests on campus in 2024. Columbia ultimately reached a settlement with the federal government in June 2025 for $221 million — representing a partial restoration of funding contingent on policy reforms. These facts are confirmed by the White House, Columbia University, Fox News, NPR, CNN, and The New York Times.

Columbia was the first major research university to receive a federal funding threat. The administration's letters to Columbia cited pro-Palestinian encampments in spring 2024, allegations that Jewish students had been physically blocked from areas of campus, and failure to discipline students who disrupted classes. Harvard, Penn, MIT, and more than a dozen other universities received similar letters in the weeks following the Columbia announcement.

The $221 million settlement, announced June 15, 2025, required Columbia to implement new protest policies restricting encampments on university property, reform its disciplinary procedures for protest-related conduct, accept an independent monitor reviewing antisemitism complaints, and establish a process for the administration to review complaints directly. Faculty and student groups called the settlement a capitulation to political pressure; university leadership said it preserved essential research funding.

NPR, ACLU, and First Amendment scholars argued the funding freeze set a dangerous precedent of the federal government conditioning university funding on political speech and protest policy. Fox News and the Daily Wire said universities that tolerated antisemitism should not receive taxpayer money, calling the settlement an overdue accountability measure. Both sides confirmed the $400M freeze, the $221M settlement figure, and the reform requirements.