By Douglas Belkin and Meridith McGraw

The Trump administration has frozen more than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell and $790 million for Northwestern, according to a Trump administration official.

The federal government is investigating both schools for alleged civil-rights violations, as part of a rapidly expanding crackdown on elite research universities across the U.S. The latest funding at issue relates to grants and contracts with the departments of agriculture, defense, education and health and human services. Part of the pause affects Cornell's medical school, according to another person close to the matter.

A Northwestern University spokesman said the school hasn't received any official notification about a freeze. Cornell didn't immediately respond to calls for comment.

More than $10 billion in funding has now been pulled, paused or is under review at prominent schools including Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania.

President Trump has vowed to go after campuses his team views as liberal hotbeds that failed to protect Jewish students during the pro-Palestinian protests that have disrupted campuses over the last two academic years.

The administration also has targeted funding in university diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives and other programs it says aren't aligned with the Trump team's priorities.

On Tuesday the Commerce Department announced it was ending nearly $4 million to Princeton for programs it said exaggerated climate threats and contributed to "climate anxiety" among young people.

Write to Douglas Belkin at Doug.Belkin@wsj.com and Meridith McGraw at Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 08, 2025 22:50 ET (02:50 GMT)

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