Cornell restores frozen federal research funding after reaching agreement with Trump administration
The deal ends multiple investigations and reestablishes eligibility for future government grants.
Cornell University has reached an agreement with the Trump administration to lift a months-long freeze on more than $250 million in federal research funding. The resolution closes several civil rights and compliance investigations and reinstates the Ivy League institution’s eligibility for all federal grants.
The freeze, which began in April, disrupted dozens of projects and affected faculty and students across Cornell’s campuses.
Under the new agreement, the federal government will restore all previously suspended grants and terminate its investigations into the university’s programs.
As part of the settlement, Cornell will commit $30 million over three years to agricultural research initiatives designed to strengthen U.S. farming and food production.
The university will also pay $30 million to the federal government to settle pending claims. Cornell clarified that the payment does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing.
The agreement reaffirms Cornell’s authority to make independent decisions on admissions, hiring, and academic programs without government interference. It also requires the university to maintain transparency by continuing to report anonymized admissions data, conduct campus climate surveys, and comply with federal anti-discrimination laws.
Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff said the agreement restores Cornell’s long-standing partnership with the federal government, which has historically supported research in science, technology, health, and agriculture.
”With this resolution,” he wrote in a Friday statement, “Cornell looks forward to resuming the long and fruitful partnership with the federal government that has yielded, for so many years, so much progress and well-being for our nation and our world.”
With the settlement now in place, Cornell will resume its full range of federally supported research operations.
