Colleges are recalibrating budgets after a year of federal probes, canceled research grants and multi‑million dollar settlements tied to the administration’s push to police campus policies. Institutions with large research portfolios have faced threats to billions in awards, and several high‑profile settlement deals have already landed, forcing urgent financial planning. The administration targeted at least 60 institutions with threats to withhold grants over alleged civil‑rights and campus policy issues; settlements with Columbia ($200 million), Cornell ($60 million) and Brown ($50 million) have followed. Meanwhile, hundreds of grants were briefly canceled and proposed cuts to indirect‑cost reimbursements at NIH and NSF prompted institutions to model multi‑year deficits. Higher‑education financial officers say the combined effect is immediate: interrupted funding streams, litigation costs, and a climate that pushes some institutions toward austerity. The sector is now managing both legal exposure and the practical fallout of stalled, reinstated or reduced research funding as the FY26 budget process and court outcomes unfold.