Universities including Northwestern, Columbia, Brown, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania have struck formal agreements with the Trump administration to regain frozen federal research dollars. The deals require institutions to pay penalties and adopt policy commitments around hiring, discrimination enforcement and admissions, university leaders and Education Department officials say. The pacts were structured as a trade: large monetary settlements or compliance steps in exchange for restoring grant streams. Institutions’ statements stress that they retain academic control, while the Education Department frames the accords as enforcement of civil‑rights and non‑discrimination standards. Legal and governance experts warn the agreements could set durable precedents for executive leverage over campus operations. Institutional actors named in the agreements and public commentary include university presidents and interim leaders, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and investigators from federal civil‑rights units. Observers say the deals may chill faculty hiring, reshape administrative practices, and force other campuses to consider settlements to resolve pending probes.