President Donald Trump has frozen nearly $3 billion in federal funding to universities, fulfilling his promise to hold schools accountable for allowing antisemitism on campuses and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The Trump administration originally cut $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University in March for allowing anti-Israel protests and encampments last year. The administration has now cut federal funding from additional universities since the beginning of April. These cuts include over $1 billion from Cornell University, $510 million from Brown University, $210 million from Princeton University, and $790 million from Northwestern University.
“We have been addressing the issue of antisemitism on campuses,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a Cabinet meeting Thursday. “There’s been some grant funding and contract funding that we’ve reviewed and some canceled, and some we’ve put on hold waiting for that, while we do an investigation.”
When federal funding was paused from Columbia University, the Trump administration provided a list of steps the school would need to take before funding would continue again. This list included meaningful discipline for students who participated in anti-Israel encampments, banning masks as a form of identity concealment, adopting a definition of antisemitism, and reforming admissions to conform with federal law.
Within a few weeks, Columbia University announced plans to comply with the administration. The situation eventually led to the university’s interim President Katrina Armstrong stepping down. The Trump administration will likely seek similar agreements with the other universities that had their funding paused.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that the Department of Defense (DOD) is also eliminating federal grants to Northwestern and Cornell.
“In support of the president’s priorities to stop federal funding for academic institutions that tolerate antisemitism and support divisive DEI programs, this week DOD is also pausing over $500 million in funding to Northwestern University and Cornell University,” he said. “And that’s on top of the $70 million in funding we’ve already paused at Columbia, Penn, Brown, and Princeton over the last few weeks, as if any of these institutions need more government money at all.”
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced in March that 60 universities were under investigation for failing to protect Jewish students on campus. The administration’s recent actions to freeze funding to universities are likely a result of these investigations.
“The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year,” McMahon said at the time. “University leaders must do better. U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege, and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
Some of these universities are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions. Why should they receive a time of taxpayer money?
Should they still be called Universities, they’ve long ago became political centers, nothing to do with thinking and education, let them function as that on their own.
Why do they need funding anyway? Serious question
About time! Not only should it be frozen; it should be eliminated altogether, and not just because of their terrorist supporting activity. There was outrage over Biden’s unconstitutional student loan forgiveness, fair enough, no one wants to pay other’s loans but what seems more outrageous to me is that our tax dollars should go to poison ivy institutes of higher indoctrination to subsidize the urges of the elites’ miscreant Marxist offspring to study DEI, or the effects of drugs on the practice of ancient Chinese macramé practitioners with the funds of ordinary American taxpayers. Let the super-rich elite pay their own way for what they term “higher education” these days. I want my money back, because like all of us I’ve got my own bills to pay! Uncle Sam needs to get out of the education business, healthcare, entertainment, censorship, and out of the shipping, broadcasting, and transportation business, period! Time to pass some laws to make all that happen permanently, and presto, before the Democrats take anything back. This time the RINOs won’t get away with aw, shucks what can you do now!
Why is the DoD funding universities?!!!
Federal funding has driven up the tuition costs. The federally funded schools have been taken over by professors with ideologies not compatible with American ideals and values. Why not make them all private and let alumni fund, like Hillsdale College?
Not only are these supporters of Hamas demonstrating against the Jewish people they also call for the total annihilation of the Western World. My advise to these young kids who are screaming from the river to the sea can’t even name the river or the sea they are screaming about. If you are so hell bent on destroying the Jews and the Western world please enlist in the Hamas army. Especially all you trans. They will welcome you with open arms. Isn’t that what freedom is to you. Hamas!!! Check it out.
There’ve been an increasing number of Middle Eastern and Chinese students enrolled in these colleges/universities. An article of a few weeks ago indicated that it was these students who organized the anti-Israel protests on campus. But the second, and really bigger issue is that those in charge did nothing.
We taxpayers should never fund colleges anyway . They are almost all propaganda institutions who brainwash today’s kids. If you can’t afford college go into the trades where you learn a skill and can start making money right away. College is useless unless you are going to be a Doctor, Teacher, etc is a waste of time and money. Social or gender studies , climate change etc are all nonsense that will get you a job at Starbucks.
Please tell me why tax dollars are going to these universities AT ALL.
I’m glad this type of treatment towards Jewish Students is being looked into and holding the educational institutions responsible for the “looking away” of the abhorrent behavior and treatment of these students. I would say this disgusts me and I’d ask those doing so to consider how they’d feel. I hope just considering will make them think hard.
Whooaa: 1 billion to one school and on and on………what’s going here. That’s my money you are giving away, More examples of government waste disclosed daily!
The real question is why in the helllllll are these universities getting one penny of taxpayers money???? Stop it all now. God bless America Pray
Good for him! Why should they use taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate kids? We already have too many Democrats in this country
Honestly, cut all the funding. If these bastions of liberalism can’t support themselves, then bye bye. First though, make contributions from terrorist watch list countries absolutely illegal to accept. No Middle East studies departments either. If American students want to learn about that topic, let THEM go overseas and good luck.
Why are universities receiving federal money? The filthy rich schools like Northwestern do not need are commoners money. Since they are receiving federal funds we should receive their financial statements. I would love to receive their Balance Sheet. I expect they will have hundreds of million dollars. Why? We should investigate these establishments!!
Great! Universities cannot justify where the money is spent! Professors make too much money, for the most part they are Socialists, Marxist, etc!
This funding should not be frozen. It should be permanently eliminated. Furthermore, these university slush… er hedge….er endowment funds should be taxed.
Hmm, $200-million here, $500-million there, $700-million there…pretty soon, we’re talking about REAL money!!!
The universities that are having funding cut because of anti-semitism and racial discrimination, via DEI, have complained that much needed research will be lost as a result. Yet, the Universities have caused that problem. Such research funding is almost as bad as funding the Wuhan Lab in Red China. How did that work out?
Withholding funds from Progressive universities creates needed changes in academic offerings and campus culture. When students and outside protesters promote unpatriotic ideas, they not only show bad manners and ingratitude that also verge on behavior that approximates sedition/treason. They misuse the principles of freedom they have enjoyed under our Constitution. Not only native citizens agree by their birth privilege birth support our culture based on Judeo-Christian values, but naturalized citizens who have actually sworn to assimilate and join our basic Western culture have reneged on their oath. Theodore Roosevelt’s quote sums it up, “We only have room for one flag.” We have ample freedom to protest our alma mater by withdrawing financial support when we disagree with a policy. When one of my Christian universities started going off the rails in doctrine, I stopped sending a donation. Strength is a simple display of character.
Folks didn’t realize our tax dollars were funding all these colleges. Like, why do they have tuition fees then? Another problem is Colleges are based on the idea of a “Liberal Arts” education. High time to dump that in favor of a true “Conservative Arts” education!
I would prefer that NO TAX dollars how to any of these institutions of learning. There are universities that function phenomenally WITHOUT Any of OUR Money (Taxes) going to them!!
good
All of the grant money should be eliminated. It is not the job of government to fund this research. Let private industry pay for this as they are the ones who reap the benefits. Government money should only be used for student grants and scholarships all other money should come from the private sector and the earnings of these institutions massive tax free endoument funds.
Good afternoon, Everyone:
Is there a list of all of these universities where federal funding has been cut and how much $$ (money) they will NOT receive?? (There are a couple of universities where I would like to see federal funding “cut!”) Where would I find this list and the amount of $$ (money) withheld from them.)
Do so for colleges nationwide
This really something else, things we heard about what’s being taught in Universities where antisemitism and unpatriotic to country is really rubbing the wrong way! Praying for best for son and daughter in law is raising our granddaughter hopefully the right way !
WHY DOES IT SEEM THAT COMMUNISTS/SOCIALISTS MATRICULATE TO MONEY?
I THINK THE COST OF A COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY DEGREE HAS RISEN DRAMATICALLY BECAUSE OF ALL THE FEDERAL TAX MONEY GIVEN TO THOSE INSTITUTIONS VIA GRANTS, ETC.. FROM WHAT I HAVE READ MOST OF OUR TAX MONEY HAS BEEN SQUANDERED ON USELESS/MEANINGLESS RESEARCH/STUDIES AND ALLOWED PROFESSORS, WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO TEACH STUDENTS TO DO LITTLE OR NO TEACHING. EXCESSIVE MONEY SCREWS UP EVERYTHING IT TOUCHES: OUR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS ARE A CLASSIC EAMPLE
Purge All DEI,WOKE, Socialist and Communist Professors.
I sincerely hope that Harvard, Princeton and Yale are on the no money list! Just a few years ago Harvard was called a “hedge fund” and was sitting on millions of dollars. All three started life as…divinity colleges to train young ministers to go out into the world. If they could see what these once venerable Academy’s have turned into they’d roll over in their graves. Sadly but for a precious few, these “colleges” are nothing but leftist “brain” washers. Hillsdale, and I believe Patrick Henry colleges are definitely conservative colleges and well worth sending a kid to.
It’s ASTOUNDING how this BILLIONS of Dollars is OUR TAX MONEY! OUR MONEY!! Give OUR money BACK to us and WE can support sending Our Children to be educated!! The whole Tax system is FRAUDULENT!!
While reading the article, I kept thinking, why is our government giving all of this money to our universities? I can see money for grants and and scholarships for students but beyond that what else are WE taxpayers funding? It is appalling to think these rich universities actually need this much tax payer funding. Most of them have tons of wealthy alumni that donate generously. Need a total audit of what each university does with these funds EVERY year. And the government needs to get out of the business of student loans. Let actual banks and loan companies handle this. They won’t let the loan takers default. You sign a loan, you pay the loan…period.
Why in hell are we taxpayers paying $3 billion dollars to schools that we cannot afford to send our kids to?!!! Those schools are outrageously expensive for no good reason. All graduates get is prestige on a sheepskin and a debt they cannot pay back. I’m way past pissed off to find this out. Any taxpayer money going to any school that a student has to pay to attend needs to be carefully reconsidered. I vote no funding to any of them!
These so called institutions should have funding pulled permanently. As far as needing my tax dollars these garbage dumps have long ago given up on education.
So many of the leftist socialist liberal colleges and universities are receiving millions of dollars from foreign nations that oppose the U.S. and democracy so why should the U.S. federal government continue to pump tax-payer dollars into those socialist communist training centers? If those schools want U.S. funds they need to completely cut off all funding from foreign nations. Most of those schools are public so they need to rely solely on the contributions for alumni and not the federal government. The government has been funding public schools from too long and that resulted in socialism being allowed into those schools which opened the floodgates of foreign funding of anti American and anti democracy teaching.
Why are they classified as non-profits? Why do they get ANY taxpayer dollars? Most of these institutions have billions in endowments. If they had to operate as real businesses and education centers maybe they’d do a better job of educating people. Stop the madness and ANY taxpayer funding to universities!
Why are taxpayers even supporting these IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS? The students
that attend these Schools are well off money wise or Parents are.
Why is the federal government using our tax dollars to fund these leftist/communist breeding grounds, especially when most of them have yuuuge endowment funds that they aren’t using. With all the government money going into the universities, I ask why tuition keeps skyrocketing. If our universities are taking that much money from the federal government then tuition for U.S. citizens should be a mere pittance and no citizen should have to worry about student loans.
So is the money going to something real and relevant, or haven’t they figured out the sexual habits of the transgender turd beetle yet?
FINALLY
Follow the money. I’d be willing to bet that some of that money ends up in the politicians pockets. But then that would make them millionaires. Duh!!
Why are these Colleges and Universities getting any Federal funds? Check how much these colleges have in their “non taxed” endowment funds. They have Billions!! Why give any Federal money? They don’t need money, they already have all they need.
Get it done, DJT!
The Education System on the whole needs to be gone through teaching the Principals and Values through Faith in the One True Almighty God the Founding Fathers Trusted and Believed in! Back-to-the-Basics! USA is in decline by people who have no Moral Compass on the Left, some on the Right and a number amongst the Independents. USA would be served if a great awakening Revival would break out. Once this Foundation is laid then we could build upon it securing a winning future for all having made/restoring JESUS Christ as the Conerstone. What better to have the Teaching of JESUS CHRIST implemented back into our Education System!
Hillsdale College is a great college. Yes, make them all private. I don’t want my taxpayer money going to the likes of Yale, Penn, Princeton, etc. etc. etc…
I DO NOT WANT MY TAX DOLLARS PAYING THE WAGES OF COMMIE PROFESSORS .. TEACHERS THAT PREACH HATE , COLLEGES THAT ALLOW OUR COUNTRY TO BE TRASHED WHILE THEY HAVE THEIR HAND IN OUR POCKETS. DO NOT SUSPEND , ELIMINATE ENTIRELY …
These Universities are indoctrinating students to Hate America and transform her into a socialist nation. They should not be getting ANY Federal Funding.
Since teaching is replaced, they do not need funds to dub around. Reduce, kick the non-Americans off campus, (As they side with the murders says a lot! Go visit and see what happens.). Where are the trustees? Do your job. Word on the street and the noise grows louder and louder. Getting to a final solution?”
How dare those students protest the mass butchery of primarily women and children using weapons we the American taxpayer gift to our Israeli overlords.
Deport them all………and tear out that troublesome First Amendment. We only like it when it allows for conservative speech to be aired publicly. This is a Democracy after all.
My God, we are lost.
Deplorables and Good Ole Boys should be recruited and granted full ROTC and criminal justice /public safety studies scholarships to attend any of these universities as a condition of funding restoration. And such students should be licensed to carry concealed handguns and knives at all times anywhere on campus.