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WASHINGTON – Columbia University has struck another deal with the Trump administration in an effort to restore millions of dollars in frozen federal funding. The Ivy League school agreed to pay a $200 million fine over three years and will jointly appoint an independent monitor to ensure compliance with new policies, according to the university.
The massive penalty is meant to settle allegations that Columbia violated federal civil rights laws by failing to protect its Jewish community from discrimination. In addition, the university must pay another $21 million to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
This agreement represents the second major concession made by Columbia during protracted negotiations with the government. Despite numerous compromises and many months of talks, the Trump administration has yet to release hundreds of millions of dollars back to the school.
Previously, Columbia had agreed to bolster campus law enforcement, appoint a new administrator for its Middle Eastern studies department, and revise protest policies in an effort to appease the White House.
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Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, stated that the agreement preserves the university’s independence and will restore research funding, including from the National Institutes of Health.
The announcement also comes as another Ivy League school, the University of Pennsylvania, agreed to demands related to transgender athletes competing. That deal was reached to restore millions in federal money.
Columbia is currently facing a separate battle over its accreditation status, which it needs to distribute federal financial aid dollars to students. The Education Department has pushed Columbia’s accreditor to reevaluate the school’s standing. Middle States, however, has placed the university on warning, an unprecedented step that would involve a long and complex process before possible revocation of accreditation.
For more information:
– [Read more: Lia Thomas, Title IX and $175M: Why Penn struck a deal with Trump](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2025/07/02/lia-thomas-trump-deal-trans-swimmer-upenn/84443136007/)
– [Columbia University faces battle over its accreditation status](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2025/06/04/education-department-columbia-accreditation/84035045007/)
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According to the passage, what did Columbia University agree to pay in total to settle the allegations of violating federal civil rights laws?
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