Harvard University and the Trump administration are close to reaching a landmark legal settlement that would stipulate the nation's oldest university pay $500 million in exchange for the government restoring billions in federal funding.
Over the past week, White House and Harvard negotiators have made substantial progress on a settlement framework that would end their monthslong dispute, according to The New York Times.
President Donald Trump and senior Harvard officials still need to sign off on the terms of the deal, and there is still a lot of back-and-forth over the language for a potential agreement, but, under the emerging framework, Harvard would agree to invest $500 million in vocational and educational programs and research, according to three people who spoke with the Times.
That figure, which is currently set to be paid over several years, would reportedly satisfy Trump's desire that Harvard's settlement more than double what Columbia University agreed to when it cut a deal with the administration last month. In not paying the government directly, one of Harvard's requests would also be met.
Two of the Times' sources said that the university would also commit to continuing its efforts to stamp out antisemitism on campus.
In return, the Trump administration would reportedly restore Harvard's research funding and not appoint a monitor — a condition the school has insisted on to preserve its academic independence.
Additionally, three of the people the Times spoke with said that the government would end its increasing number of investigations into the university and discontinue blocking Harvard from enrolling international students under the terms of the deal.
Newsmax reached out to Harvard for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Harvard has been battling the administration for the last four months and is the only school who responded to the withdrawal of its federal funding with a lawsuit.
The response of other targeted schools could be shaped by a settlement between the Trump administration and America's oldest and wealthiest university. Last week, the government proposed that UCLA pay more than $1 billion to settle antisemitism allegations and restore frozen grant funding.
Some of the agreement terms are expected to be similar to Brown University's settlement with the White House last month, but Harvard officials were reportedly shocked that the Rhode Island school agreed to pay only $50 million over a decade when they were being pressured to pay 10 times as much.
However, with the start of the new academic year fast approaching, Harvard negotiators have swallowed their initial resistance to the $500 million figure and are focused instead on determining the structure of the payments, the Times reported.
A potential sticking point of any agreement could be how inclined Harvard is to provide the government with its admissions data, particularly numbers that involve the race of applicants. The White House was reportedly pushing for a provision that would require Harvard hand over detailed admissions data to the government, including information on race, gender, grade-point averages, and standardized test scores.
In a recent interview, White House adviser May Mailman, who has been directing negotiations with universities, suggested that Harvard's willingness to provide race-based admissions data would factor into the administration's decision to finalize a deal.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.