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The funding pause amid civil rights investigations into both universities sharply escalates the Trump administration’s campaign against elite colleges.
April 8, 2025, 7:21 p.m. ET
The Trump administration has frozen more than $1 billion in funding for Cornell and $790 million for Northwestern amid civil rights investigations into both schools, two administration officials said.
The funding pause involves mostly grants and contracts with the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education and Health and Human Services, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unannounced decision.
The moves are the latest in a rapidly escalating campaign against the nation’s elite universities that has resulted in more than $3.3 billion in federal funds suspended or canceled. The other schools that have had funds frozen include Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Penn and Princeton.
Representatives for Cornell and Northwestern did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Vimal Patel contributed reporting.
Michael C. Bender is a Times political correspondent covering Donald J. Trump, the Make America Great Again movement and other federal and state elections.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg covers health policy for The Times from Washington. A former congressional and White House correspondent, she focuses on the intersection of health policy and politics.
