Northwestern Agrees to Deal With Trump Administration

Northwestern agreed to pay $75 million to the federal government in a deal reached on Friday with the Trump administration that restores hundreds of millions in research funding and closes multiple investigations into antisemitism on campus.

The deal was the sixth agreement that the Trump administration had reached with an elite university, and the second-highest payment, since the White House began blocking research funding from major colleges that it viewed as out of step with its policy agenda for academia.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the two sides were finalizing their agreement.

Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the deal as “another victory” for the administration in its pressure campaign, while Henry S. Bienen, Northwestern’s interim president, said the agreement ended “a deeply painful and disruptive period in our university’s history.”

“We understand how difficult the past seven months have been since our federal research funding was frozen, and that many of you have felt the impacts deeply and personally,” Mr. Bienen said in a letter to the Northwestern community. “The experience has been grueling, and we appreciate the care and professionalism you have taken as we have navigated this difficult stretch as a community.”

Northwestern has endured months of pressure from the White House and Republicans in Congress. On Sept. 4, in the face of that pressure, Michael H. Schill, the university’s president at the time, abruptly announced that he would resign after three years in office.

Northwestern’s payments will be made to the U.S. Treasury over the next three years, according to the deal. The government agreed to close three federal investigations — by the Education, Health and Human Services and Justice Departments — without any acknowledgment of wrongdoing by the university.