Northwestern University agreed to pay $75 million to settle probes by the Trump administration and to regain federal research funding. The payment ends an investigation that had put the university’s federal grants at risk and follows pressure applied to schools over research practices. The deal, the second-largest known payment by a university under similar scrutiny, resolves compliance questions and restores access to grants that fund biomedical and other research programs. University leaders and research administrators will face heightened oversight and new compliance benchmarks tied to the settlement. For research-intensive campuses, the settlement underscores how political pressure and federal enforcement can interrupt grant-funded projects, slow campus hiring, and force boards to weigh legal exposure against institutional priorities. Legal teams and research offices should expect more detailed grant-accountability conditions in similar agreements.