After decades of partnership with the US government, the university faces new doubts about the future of federal funding.
President Donald Trump’s administration has used fundraising SPIGOT to seek compliance with his agenda; Columbia University and University of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, universities across the country are navigating Reducing grants from research institutions.
The pressure on higher education underscores how dependent American universities are on the federal government, according to an Associated Press analysis.
School administrators and advocates of academic freedom lead to university crisis and national issues. America’s scientific and medical research capabilities are tangled with its university as part of a compact that began to develop national expertise and knowledge after World War II.
“Anytime, it feels like the university can somehow stop in line and then withdraw all the funds,” said Jonathan Friedman, managing director of Penn America’s Free Expression Program.
It costs hundreds of billions of dollars
The AP analysis examined federal funding from nearly 100 universities currently being investigated for programs the administration deemed illegal Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion; Or because it’s not done enough Combat Anti-Semitism. These schools incorporated more than $33 billion in federal revenue for the 2022-2023 academic year. That’s before taking into consideration federal student aid. This represents billions more in tuition fees and room and board payments.
Analysis shows that in most schools, approximately 10% to 13% of revenue came from federal contracts or research funding. However, at some well-known research universities, federal money accounted for half of its revenue.
AP analyzed data from National Center for Educational Statistics The federal audit reports with the help of researchers Jason Cohn and James Carter at the Urban Institute.
Analysis shows that perhaps no school is more vulnerable than Johns Hopkins University, which received $4 billion in federal funds with $4 billion in federal funds. Much of them spent paying for projects such as missile design, submarine technology, and space precision tracking systems on defense research. Billions of dollars have also become medical research for topics such as immunology, transplantation, aging, neuroscience, and mental health.
Johns Hopkins is facing anti-Semitism investigations that threaten federal money, but he already feels the impact of cuts on research grants from the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies. Announced earlier this month 2,200 layoffs.
“For researchers who are dedicated to their treatments, treatments and pursuits to improve the health of all Americans, we face a challenging time for patients and families who rely on us,” the university said in a statement.
Trump pulled concessions from Columbia
Trump has set an example for Ivy League schools by picking up Columbia University and withholding $400 million in federal funds. The administration has repeatedly denounced Columbia’s anti-Semitism over protests against Israel that began at a university in New York City last spring and quickly spread to other campuses.
As a prerequisite to restoring that money, and with future grants, the Republican administration has called for unprecedented changes in university policies. Colombia’s decision last week was part of a decision to succumb to those demands. Save ongoing research projects The lab and medical centers have been criticized by some faculty members and free speech groups for invading academic freedom.
At the White House on Wednesday, Trump expressed his satisfaction with the university’s pressure campaign.
“You see what we do in college, they say bent.
For the 2022-2023 academic year, Columbia approached a fifth of its revenues from federal government sources, reaching around $1.2 billion. an audit Much of Columbia’s federal funding has been spent on research and development, including $166 million for the Global AIDS Program, $99 million for aging, $28 million for cancer biology, and $24 million for substance abuse and addiction research.
A new approach to enforcement of civil rights laws
Federal law allows the education sector End the funds Only after certain measures have been taken to universities that violate civil rights laws. According to Title VI of the Act, the department must first make a formal finding of the violation, provide a hearing, notify Congress, and wait 30 days before withdrawing assistance.
However, the Trump administration New StrategyLegal experts say there is little room for negotiation, little room for negotiation, little indication of legitimate proceedings, and quick moves from penalties.
In Penn, the administration has suspended $175 million in federal funding from the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services for transgender swimmers who last competed in school in 2022.
“Many of the playbooks appear to be more threatening than actual proven legal findings,” said Michael Pirela, director of education equity issues for the Civil Rights Commission under the law. “I think this is all designed as an attempt to intimidate all universities, not just the institution being investigated.”
Reduction and uncertainty have led several universities Accept fewer graduate studentsblocks the route to the carrier. Many graduate students in the science program receive scholarships and scholarships that come from federal research grants.
Purdue University senior Alyssa Johnson had planned to pursue graduate studies on amphibian diseases, but she was accepted into one of the three schools she applied to. She said one of the schools appears to be limiting acceptance to avoid fundraising concerns preemptively. However, given her experience with the application, the changing landscape of research, and her changing interests, she decided to change her research course into something she felt would help build trust between scientists and the public.
“I went through a bit of a career crisis, and this was definitely catalyzed by what’s happening in the current administration and their attitude towards science and science communication,” Johnson said.
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Associated writers Kasturi Pananjady, Cheyanne Mumphrey and Chris Megerian contributed to this report.
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