Northwestern, Cornell, and Brown: the Columbia template, applied at scale

Northwestern paid $75M over three years to unlock $790M in frozen funds; Cornell paid $60M ($30M to Treasury, $30M to agriculture research) to unlock frozen funds; Brown committed $50M to Rhode Island workforce development, no direct Treasury payment

Following the Columbia template (LFU-09), Northwestern agreed in late November 2025 to pay $75 million to the US Treasury over three years to resolve antisemitism-related investigations and unlock $790 million in frozen federal funding, Bienen noted the university had been spending roughly $40 million per month sustaining research without federal funds, and called the settlement 'the best and most certain method' to restore funding rather than face years of litigation. AG Bondi called it 'another victory in the Trump Administration's fight to ensure that American educational institutions protect Jewish students and put merit first.'

Cornell agreed earlier the same month to pay $30 million directly to the federal government plus a further $30 million committed to US agriculture research, ending a similar antisemitism-related investigation. Brown's settlement required no direct government payment but committed $50 million to Rhode Island workforce-development programs alongside policy commitments.

All three settlements, along with Columbia's, required detailed admissions-data reporting by race, GPA, and test scores; certification of compliance with the administration's interpretation of civil rights law; restrictions on transgender women's participation in women's sports, locker rooms, and housing; and prohibitions on programs supporting 'race-based outcomes, quotas, diversity targets.' Northwestern's president specifically noted the university refused to cede 'any control over whom we hire, whom we admit as students, what our faculty teach' as a negotiating red line, an indication that even settling universities pushed back on some demands.

Documented

Resolved by settlement in each case; no litigation

Northwestern settlement 2025-11-28; Cornell settlement 2025-11 (early); Brown settlement 2025 (undated, prior to Northwestern per comparative reporting)