Harvard, Trump admin nearing a settlement, including US$500m payment

WASHINGTON (AP):

Harvard University and the Trump administration are getting close to an agreement that would require the Ivy League university to pay US$500 million to regain access to federal funding and to end investigations, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The framework is still being sorted out with significant gaps to close, but both sides have agreed on the financial figure and a settlement could be finalised in coming weeks, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Harvard declined to comment.

The agreement would end a monthslong battle that has tested the boundaries of the government’s authority over America’s universities. What began as an investigation into campus antisemitism escalated into an all-out feud as the Trump administration slashed more than US$2.6 billion in research funding, ended federal contracts and attempted to block Harvard from hosting international students.

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.

Details of the proposed framework were first reported by The New York Times.

A US$500 million payment would be the largest sum yet as the administration pushes for financial penalties in its settlements with elite universities. Columbia University agreed to pay the government US$200 million as part of an agreement restoring access to federal funding, while Brown University separately agreed to pay US$50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organisations.

Details have not been finalised on where Harvard’s potential payment would go, the person said.

The Republican president has been pushing to reform prestigious universities that he decries as bastions of liberal ideology.

His administration has cut funding to several Ivy League schools while pressing demands in line with his political campaign. None has been targeted as frequently or as heavily as Harvard, the richest US university with an endowment valued at US$53 billion.

More than a dozen Democrats in Congress who attended Harvard cautioned against a settlement on Aug. 1, warning the university it may warrant “rigorous Congressional oversight and inquiry”. Capitulating to political demands, they said, would set a dangerous precedent across all of higher education.