The Trump administration is pushing Harvard University to agree to a steep financial settlement, far surpassing the $200 million fine Columbia University recently accepted, in ongoing federal investigations into alleged antisemitism on campus, according to two individuals familiar with the negotiations.
Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks, say the administration expects Harvard to pay several hundred million dollars if it hopes to end multiple probes into how it handled incidents involving Jewish students and staff. The university has reportedly been engaged in quiet back-channel talks with the White House, even as it challenges the administration’s funding freeze in court.
According to The New York Times, Harvard has indicated a willingness to pay up to $500 million as part of a potential agreement. The university has not issued a public comment.
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The escalating negotiations come in the wake of Columbia’s high-profile $200 million settlement, which also reinstated over $400 million in previously suspended federal research funding. That deal followed months of dialogue between Columbia and the administration, which accused the university of enabling antisemitic harassment during campus demonstrations tied to the Israel-Hamas war.
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“Harvard wants to settle,” President Donald Trump said last week, adding, “but Columbia handled it better.”
Unlike Columbia, Harvard opted to take legal action after the administration cut off access to billions in federal research grants, citing violations of civil rights protections.
Officials have indicated that Columbia’s deal is intended to serve as a blueprint for other universities under similar scrutiny. “It’s a roadmap,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said last week, predicting the agreement would “ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.”
The administration’s emphasis on monetary penalties signals a shift in federal enforcement. Historically, civil rights investigations by the Education Department typically resulted in voluntary compliance agreements with little or no financial consequences.
Even the largest fines under previous administrations pale in comparison. Liberty University was fined $14 million last year for failing to disclose campus crimes, a record at the time. Michigan State University previously held the record with a $4.5 million fine over its mishandling of sexual abuse complaints involving disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar.
Meanwhile, the University of Pennsylvania agreed this month to update school records related to transgender swimmer Lia Thomas but faced no financial penalty in its own settlement with the Trump administration.
Across the country, the administration has launched dozens of investigations into alleged antisemitism and what it views as racial bias embedded in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. Institutions including Cornell University and Northwestern University are currently facing funding holds exceeding $1 billion and $790 million, respectively.
