Columbia University may be nearing a deal with the Trump administration to reinstate federal funding to the university over civil rights issues, according to reports by multiple news outlets.
The deal would require Columbia to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to those affected by the alleged violations, increase transparency in its hiring and admissions processes, and take other steps to improve security and safety on campus for Jewish students, the Washington Free Beacon and Wall Street Journal reported.
In return, the university would regain some $400 million in federal grants and contracts that the administration cut in March.
The deal does not include some of the stricter provisions initially demanded by the White House, such as a consent decree and reforms to Columbia’s governance structure, the outlets reported. The White House also dropped demands that a presidential search committee to replace interim university president Claire Shipman include people with a variety of political views, the Free Beacon reported.
A spokesperson for the university said the school was working to move discussions along with the federal government but noted there was no resolution yet, the Free Beacon reported.
Any such deal would be an unprecedented arrangement between the federal government and an elite university. It could set a precedent for deals with other universities President Donald Trump has gone after, including Harvard.