Possible Harvard Settlement and Federal Pressure

President Donald Trump said on September 30, 2025 that his administration is close to a settlement with Harvard University, which is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he described elements that include a $500 million payment and commitments to operate trade schools that would teach artificial intelligence and engineering. If finalized, the deal would follow months of pressure in which federal officials threatened to cut funding and restrict access for international students. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who the president said is finishing the final details, was named as the official handling the talks.

Earlier this year the U.S. government froze $2.2 billion in multi‑year grants to Harvard after contentious campus protests and complaints about the handling of antisemitism; the administration also sought to bar international students and to limit the university’s ability to win federal contracts. Harvard has challenged several actions in court, and a federal judge on September 3 barred parts of the government’s funding cuts, which has left the situation partly constrained by judicial rulings.

Several other elite schools have reached agreements while under similar pressure: Columbia University agreed to pay more than $220 million, and Brown University committed $50 million to workforce and community programs. Rights advocates and university leaders have expressed concern about privacy, academic freedom and the broader implications for research funding, and those debates have continued as talks proceed.

At present Harvard had no immediate comment, and the administration’s statements leave key implementation questions unresolved; nevertheless, the president’s description of the terms has already shaped public expectations about the scope of any settlement.