Trump administration pauses $1.8B in funding for Cornell, Northwestern, amid antisemitism crackdown

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has frozen more than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell University and about $790 million for Northwestern University while the government investigates alleged civil rights violations at the schools, the White House says.

It’s part of a broader push of using taxpayer dollars to pressure major academic institutions to crack down on alleged antisemitism on campus.

The Republican administration previously cut off money to Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and others, creating uncertainty for universities at a time of reduced grants for research institutions.

Last month, the Education Department sent letters to more than 60 universities, including Cornell in New York and Northwestern in Illinois warning of “potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations” under federal law to “protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities.”

The administration has argued that universities allowed alleged antisemitism to go unchecked at campus protests last year against the Israel-Hamas war; the schools deny it.

In a statement, Cornell says that it had received more than 75 stop work orders from the Defense Department related to research “profoundly significant to American national defense, cybersecurity and health,” but that it had not otherwise received any information confirming $1 billion in frozen grants.

“We are actively seeking information from federal officials to learn more about the basis for these decisions,” says the statement from Michael I. Kotlikoff, the university president, and other top school officials.

Northwestern’s leaders say in a message to campus that they had not received any official notification from Washington.

The school has fully cooperated with investigations by both the Education Department and Congress, university spokesperson Jon Yates says.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.