Columbia University has agreed to pay more than $221 million and overhaul several of its campus policies following a civil rights investigation by the Trump administration. 

The settlement, confirmed this week, includes $200 million in federal penalties and $21 million in restitution to Jewish faculty and staff who alleged discrimination.

The agreement comes after months of scrutiny over Columbia’s handling of antisemitic incidents and its compliance with federal civil rights laws.

 The university will now be subject to independent monitoring and must implement a series of reforms aimed at curbing antisemitism, ending race-based programming, and enforcing stricter disciplinary measures.

Among the changes: Columbia will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, create new faculty positions to promote intellectual diversity, and ban masked protests on campus. 

The university will also be required to report disciplinary actions involving international students to federal authorities and reduce its reliance on foreign enrollment.

The settlement follows a wave of antisemitic demonstrations on campus after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Columbia’s campus was the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment and the storming of Hamilton Hall, which led to dozens of student suspensions and expulsions.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the agreement “a seismic shift” in how elite universities are held accountable. 

“These dangerous trends fueled the outbreak of violent antisemitism that paralyzed campuses after the October 7th massacre,” she said in a statement. “This agreement will ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.”

President Trump praised the deal as a “historic agreement” that would dismantle “ridiculous DEI policies” and restore fairness in higher education. “Columbia University has agreed to do what is right,” he said. “Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many… are upcoming.”

Columbia’s acting president Claire Shipman said the agreement “safeguards our independence” and allows the university’s research partnerships with the federal government to resume. 

“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” she said.

The deal is expected to serve as a model for other universities facing similar investigations. Harvard University, which refused to comply with federal demands, is currently in litigation over $2.6 billion in frozen funding.

The Columbia settlement will remain in effect for three years, with semi-annual compliance reports submitted to federal monitors.