The University reached a settlement with the federal government to restore over $250 million in federal funds, according to a statement sent by President Michael Kotlikoff to the University community on Friday.
Cornell has agreed to give $30 million to the federal government and invest an additional $30 million into research to strengthen U.S. agriculture over the next three years.
The settlement stipulates that all funding to Cornell will be restored for grants that were paused and those that were yet to be funded. Grants that were previously deemed ineligible for funding will also be restored in full.
The federal government also agreed to close all ongoing Civil Rights Title VI investigations into Cornell. The University does not admit to any wrongdoing and “expressly denies liability with respect to the subject matter of the Investigations,” according to the settlement.
Under the agreement, the University must provide the federal government with anonymized undergraduate admissions data, including race, grade point average and standardized test scores broken down by specific colleges on a quarterly basis in compliance with existing regulations. The data will be subjected to a “comprehensive audit by the United States.” However, the information will be “maintained confidentially and exempt from public disclosure,” according to the agreement.
The settlement states that “no provision of this Agreement, individually or taken together, shall be construed as giving the United States authority to dictate the content of academic speech or curricula.”
However, Cornell agreed to include the Department of Justice’s “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination,” released on July 29, as a training resource for all faculty and staff. The memo announcing the guidance says, “The federal government will not stand by while recipients of federal funds engage in discrimination,” noting the “significant legal risk of initiatives” such as diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the allowance of transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams.
The federal government initially froze funding for Cornell in April 2025. The freeze came after the Office of Civil Rights announced a Title VI investigation into Cornell and 44 other universities.
The New York Times had reported that the Trump administration froze over $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell, according to anonymous U.S. officials.
However, administrators later clarified that the cuts amounted to approximately $250 million in stop-work orders and grant terminations and that about $80 million was additionally owed to Cornell from the federal government for “programs for which we've made expenditures and we haven’t been reimbursed.”
Since February 2025, Cornell has seen over 120 stop-work orders leveraged against the University. Provost Kavita Bala confirmed that the number of active stop-work orders had remained essentially unchanged in an October interview with The Sun.
Stop-work orders are directions from a contracting officer to a contractor to stop all or parts of work “for a period of 90 days after the order is delivered.”
Kotlikoff explained that as a land-grant university for New York State and as a “global pioneer in agricultural research and innovation,” Cornell is “proud to lead efforts in supporting American farmers,” with the $30 million agriculture research investment. The $30 payment towards the federal government will serve as a “condition for ending pending claims that have been brought against the university,” according to Kotlikoff.
The settlement comes after Cornell ranked second-highest among the Ivy League universities in federal lobbying spending in the year thus far, following Q3 filing. The University was also reportedly close to a $100 million settlement deal earlier this year, according to Bloomberg. Kotlikoff denied this claim in an interview with The Sun, saying, “I wouldn't agree that we're necessarily very close to a settlement, and I wouldn't agree with a number that was published.”
Cornell is the fourth Ivy to strike a deal with the federal government to restore funding, following the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University and Columbia University.
“The months of stop-work orders, grant terminations, and funding freezes have stalled cutting-edge research, upended lives and careers, and threatened the future of academic programs at Cornell,” Kotlikoff wrote. “I am grateful for the dedication and resilience of the faculty, staff, and students who have found ways to continue moving critical work forward throughout these unprecedented events.”
The settlement is effective until December 31, 2028.
“With this resolution, Cornell looks forward to resuming the long and fruitful partnership with the federal government that has yielded, for so many years, so much progress and well-being for our nation and our world,” Kotlikoff wrote.
Gabriel Muñoz is a member of the class of 2026 at the College of Arts and Sciences. He serves as city editor for the 143rd editorial board. He previously served as city editor for the 142nd Editorial Board and news editor for the 141st Editorial Board. He can be contacted at gmunoz@cornellsun.com.
