civil rights

Northwestern University Settlement Restores Federal Funding After Antisemitism Probe

EduPulse Team

04 Dec 2025 — 2 min read

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL - On November 28, 2025, Northwestern University reached an agreement with the U.S. federal government, under which the university will pay US$ 75 million over three years in exchange for restoring frozen research funding - nearly US$ 790 million - and ending ongoing federal investigations into allegations of antisemitism and other civil-rights concerns.

What Led to the Freeze

The funding freeze stemmed from a federal probe initiated earlier in 2025 by the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The investigation examined whether Northwestern’s campus policies - especially following widespread student protests tied to the Gaza conflict - failed to adequately protect Jewish students from harassment, among other civil-rights and discrimination concerns.

As a result, the federal government froze grants, contracts, and awards to the university, directly impacting its research programs and institutional financial planning.

The Terms of the Agreement

Under the newly signed settlement:

Northwestern will disburse the US$ 75 million payment over three years.
The university will comply with federal antidiscrimination laws in admissions, hiring, and campus operations.
The school agreed to rescind a prior agreement made in 2024 with pro-Palestinian protesters - the so-called “Deering Meadow Agreement” - and to revise its policies on demonstrations, protests, and other expressive activities.
Northwestern will implement mandatory antisemitism training for students, faculty, and staff, establish a new oversight committee under its Board of Trustees, and submit to quarterly compliance certifications.

In a statement, interim university leadership said that the decision to settle - rather than engage in protracted litigation - was driven by concern over the long-term impact of the funding freeze on research, faculty retention, and grant commitments.

What This Means for Research and the Campus Community

With federal research funding reinstated, existing grants and approved projects that had been halted or placed in limbo can resume. The university also regains eligibility for future federal grants, contracts, and awards - a major relief for researchers, graduate students, and departments dependent on federal support.

At the same time, the agreement imposes new constraints and oversight conditions on campus policies, affecting how demonstrations, protests, and campus discourse are managed going forward.

A Broader Trend in Higher Education

Northwestern’s agreement is the latest in a series of settlements between the federal government and major U.S. universities under pressure to amend policies related to admissions, protests, antisemitism, and compliance with civil-rights law.

The deal marks an important moment for higher education governance - demonstrating how federal oversight and funding leverage are being used to enforce compliance on campus policies, and potentially reshaping how universities approach free expression, diversity, and protest.

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