Trump admin to pull $510 million in funding from Brown University
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The Trump administration's decision to cut $510 million in federal funding from Brown University, part of a broader crackdown on Ivy League institutions over alleged antisemitic harassment, has sparked uncertainty in academia.
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A passerby walks along a path on the campus of Brown University in Providence, R.I., on October 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
On Thursday, a White House official confirmed to Axios that the Trump administration plans to withdraw $510 million in federal funding from Brown University.
The university, located in Providence, Rhode Island, is one of five Ivy League institutions recently subjected to federal funding reviews or revocations, along with Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Brown is among 60 colleges and universities currently being investigated over the pro-Palestine protests that took place on university campuses in 2024, with pro-"Israel" students and officials making false allegations of antisemitic harassment and discrimination.
In an email to campus academic leaders Thursday afternoon, Brown's provost, Frank Doyle, acknowledged "troubling rumors emerging about federal action on Brown research grants" but stated that "at this moment, we have no information to substantiate any of these rumors."
A university spokesperson later told Axios that Brown still has "no information to substantiate what's being reported." Meanwhile, Columbia University has conceded to the Trump administration's demands to restore $400 million in funding.
Earlier last month, US Federal Authorities announced on March 8 a cut in grants and contracts with Columbia University in New York, citing pro-Palestine protests, which the Trump administration labels as "anti-semitic".
The US Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Education, and the General Services Administration— all part of the Trump Administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism— announced the cuts in a statement, citing Columbia’s ongoing failure to stop pro-Palestine protests.
The statement adds that the cuts are the "first round of action" against the Ivy League university, emphasizing that more cancellations are anticipated as Columbia has more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments.
US campus crisis looms
A recent report by The Guardian on March 9 highlights the deep and lasting impact of funding freezes, budget cuts, and executive orders from the Trump administration on higher education in the US.
Students, researchers, faculty, and university leaders are facing immediate and long-term challenges, with experts warning that these disruptions could shape the landscape of American academia “for decades to come,” as per the report.
Sarah Spreitzer, vice-president and chief of staff of government relations at the American Council for Education, a nonprofit representing over 1,600 colleges, universities, and related organizations, told The Guardian, “It’s sowing a lot of chaos on campuses”.
“These changes will have long-term impacts on the American public and post-secondary education that I don’t think we can really even start to understand,” she stressed.
Research grants have been slashed or frozen, federal scholarships halted, and efforts to reduce administrative costs for National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding to 15% have left institutions scrambling to cover the financial burden, Spreitzer explained.
