Elite universities are opening their doors this fall amid a drastically altered legal and political landscape, resulting from a Trump administration campaign binding billions in federal research dollars to sweeping cultural policy changes. 

While most students and professors were away over the summer, the administration notched high-profile enforcement victories, securing settlements from major universities that combined fines, donations, and policy changes in line with Trump priorities.

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Department of Education spokeswoman Julie Hartman said recent agreements signal “the era of eroding students’ rights and lowering academic standards is coming to an end.”

“Students are returning this fall with the confidence that their nation’s highest leadership will enforce civil rights laws as written, protecting women’s sports and private facilities, defending all students, including Jewish students, from harassment, and ensuring that applicants, students, and faculty are judged on merit, not skin color,” Hartman said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. 

That approach builds on an executive order President Donald Trump signed on his second day in office, declaring that “institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).’” In a speech to a joint session of Congress, Trump went further, labeling DEI “tyranny.”

Republican lawmakers have echoed that message. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), one of Congress’s most vocal critics of elite universities, said in a June interview with Newsmax that schools “get billions in taxpayer funds” and should face cuts for “failing to fix themselves,” calling the situation a “failure of governance.”

That level of direct intervention reflects a sharp break from past practice, according to higher-education analysts. A senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and economist specializing in higher-education finance, Beth Akers said Trump’s approach marks a dramatic departure from tradition. 

“In the past, changes in federal policy affecting higher ed were rolled out through established processes,” she said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “What’s happening now is operating outside those normal channels, with direct White House-to-president’s-office negotiations and penalties.”

Major settlements and ongoing cases

The administration has made clear that universities unwilling to comply with new federal standards on discrimination, antisemitism, and gender policy could face funding suspensions, public shaming, and costly settlements. Among the most significant developments:

• Harvard University — In advanced talks for a settlement worth roughly $500 million in vocational, educational, and research investments in exchange for restoration of suspended federal research grants. Negotiations remain ongoing, but the deal would far exceed the size of the Columbia settlement and avoid a direct government payment.
  
• Columbia University — Reached a multimillion-dollar agreement in July that includes direct payments to the government, campus antisemitism reforms, and oversight provisions after investigations into alleged violations of Title VI.
  
• University of Pennsylvania — Agreed to policy changes and monitoring as part of a civil rights settlement addressing allegations of antisemitic harassment and discrimination.
  
• Brown University — Completed a $50 million agreement to restore suspended federal funding, allocate the funds over 10 years to Rhode Island workforce development organizations, commit to enhanced protections for women’s sports and intimate spaces, coupled with a pledge to address antisemitism complaints.
  
• Wagner College — Entered a resolution agreement with the Department of Education, including commitments on campus free expression and nondiscrimination enforcement.
  
• Ongoing investigations — The Department of Education’s Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism is investigating more than a dozen institutions. In March, the administration sent letters to 60 universities, including many of the nation’s most prestigious, warning of possible enforcement actions under Title VI for antisemitic discrimination and harassment. The Trump administration has launched investigations into dozens of institutions for their DEI practices.

Current investigations include high-profile cases at UCLA, Cornell University, Stanford University, and multiple other campuses nationwide. Education Department officials have signaled that more enforcement actions are likely in the coming academic year, raising the prospect of additional multimillion-dollar settlements and intensified federal oversight.

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said the fall semester will be a critical test of whether universities take the issue seriously. “True, meaningful progress requires colleges and universities to confront antisemitism with clarity and proactively. This must be done in partnership with affected communities. As students return to campus in coming weeks, the Committee will keep a watchful eye on the actions of college administrators to ensure they are protecting the safety of their students,” he said.

Supporters of the enforcement drive credit it with producing “lasting change” on campuses. Angela Morabito, spokesperson for the Defense of Freedom Institute, said the Office for Civil Rights has shown it “will take corrective action when men are allowed to invade women’s sports and spaces,” and argued that recent agreements “signal to other schools that sweeping misbehavior under the rug is no longer a tolerable way to operate a university.”

In response to reports of a potential Harvard settlement, a group of Harvard alumni in Congress, including Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-CA), Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), sent a letter warning that such a deal “cannot be viewed in isolation” and would be seen as “part of a broader pattern of attempted interference” in the governance of independent institutions. They argued that acquiescing to “unjustified political threats” would diminish Harvard’s standing and erode democratic principles.

Mount Holyoke College President Danielle Holley voiced similar alarm in a CNN interview, saying the federal government’s involvement risks extending far beyond any proven violations.

“Everyone in the United States should be deeply concerned with the idea that our federal government is attempting to run private universities,” Holley said.

Beyond the settlements and enforcement actions, Akers noted that legislative changes are also reshaping higher education, pointing to the Republican-led One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which she described as a “pretty big game changer” for higher education.

The measure imposes new borrowing caps for students and parents, consolidates repayment plans into two options, and creates an accountability system that can strip federal loan eligibility from programs whose graduates earn less than peers without the same credentials.

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While federal student aid remains untouched under the new law, Akers said students will still feel the effects of the administration’s broader funding decisions. 

“Critics will say this withdrawal of funds will definitely ruin the student experience, and from the other side, you’ll hear, ‘No, this is a refocusing of efforts to the things that really matter, preparing students for jobs.’”

Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.