'If You Can Keep It': Higher Education Funding

1A

NPR

News

4.4 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Trump administration is threatening to pull billions of dollars in funding from top universities across the country.

Last week, it froze $1 billion meant for Cornell University and $750 million meant for Northwestern University. The two schools are currently being investigated for alleged antisemitism on campus.

And last month, the administration canceled $400 million in grants and contracts for Columbia University also over allegations of antisemitism on campus. President Trump has since targeted other universities including Brown, Harvard, and Princeton.

We continue our "If You Can Keep It" series with a look at the higher education funding under the Trump administration.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Wait, wait, don't tell me.
0:01.2	Fresh air.
0:01.9	Up first.
0:02.7	NPR News Now, Planet Money, Ted Radio Hour, through line.
0:06.5	The NPR Politics Podcast, Code Switch, Embedded Books We Love, Wild Card, are just some.
0:13.5	Of the podcasts, you can enjoy sponsor-free with NPR Plus.
0:16.7	Get all sorts of perks across more than 20 podcasts with the bundle option.
0:20.8	Learn more at plus.npr.org.
0:27.5	The Trump administration has either pulled or threatened to pull
0:35.0	more than $11 billion in funding to top universities across the
0:39.0	country as part of a larger push to get these institutions in line with President Trump's agenda.
0:44.0	Last week, the Trump administration froze $1 billion to Cornell University and $750 million
0:49.7	to Northwestern University. The administration is currently investigating the two schools for what the administration's
0:55.8	claims is anti-Semitism on campus.
0:58.1	Now the Trump administration is seeking federal oversight of Columbia University.
1:02.8	The attacks on higher ed began last month when the Trump administration canceled
1:06.5	$400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University over what it says is anti-Semitism on campus.
1:15.3	It since targeted other universities, including Brown, Harvard, and Princeton.
1:20.6	Last week, Princeton University president Christopher Ice Gruper sat down with the New York Times podcast, The Daily.
1:26.2	We began to see precipitous kind of threats to funding streams early on in the new presidential
1:33.2	administration, and that included initially a freeze to research funding to universities.
1:41.6	It included the imposition of severe caps on overhead cost charges. Those are charges
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.