After a months-long battle over federal funding, the Trump administration and Harvard University are on the brink of locking in a landmark $500 million settlement, a person familiar with the negotiations said.
While talks are ongoing and key details remain unresolved, both sides have agreed to the unprecedented half-billion-dollar figure, AP reported, citing the person. A formal settlement could be finalized within weeks.
If sealed, the agreement would restore Harvard’s access to federal research funding, more than $2.6 billion of which had been frozen amid a widening investigation—and would also close the door on federal inquiries that have dogged the Ivy League institution for months.
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Neither Harvard nor the White House has issued public statements on the matter as of now.
Harvard settlement follows escalating showdown
What began as a federal probe by the Trump administration into allegations of antisemitism on Harvard’s campus quickly escalated into a broader confrontation over academic governance.
The US government accused the university of resisting reforms and retaliated by severing government contracts, suspending funding, and attempting to restrict its international student programs.
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The university responded with a pair of lawsuits alleging illegal retaliation by the administration after Harvard rejected a set of demands that campus leaders viewed as a threat to academic freedom.
The proposed $500 million payment would be the largest sum yet as the administration pushes for financial penalties in its settlements with elite universities.
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Conversely, Columbia University agreed to pay the government $200 million as part of an agreement to restore access to federal funding, while Brown University separately agreed to pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organisations.
Trump’s political battle with Ivy League schools
The settlement talks came as President Trump ramped up pressure on universities that he viewed as liberal strongholds. In his second term, Trump made higher education reform a cornerstone of his campaign, arguing that elite institutions must be held accountable for “ideological bias” and “lack of transparency.”
Harvard, with its $53 billion endowment, has been a primary target.
