Columbia University could lose nearly $1.6 billion a year in taxpayer money if it doesn't get a grip on the pro-Palestinian protests that led to more than than 130 arrests and sparked a wave of similar demonstrations across the country.
Republican lawmakers have threatened to use Congress' "power of the purse" to punish Columbia for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students from antisemism on its New York City campus, in violation of civil rights law.
Federal funding provided 20% of Columbia's $6.2 billion in operating revenue during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2023, according to online records reviewed by HNGN.
The flood of taxpayer dollars also served as one of Columbia's three largest income streams, along with payments for patient care at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and its affiliates, and tuition fees from its 36,000-plus undergraduate and graduate students.
A 154-page report issued by the university's trustees lists hundreds of federal grants and contracts that Columbia received in the form of direct awards and "pass-through" funding during fiscal 2023, the most recent period for which information is available.
The school got cash from 14 of the government's 15 executive departments -- excluding only the Labor Department -- and eight other agencies, including NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development and National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities.
About $995 million was spent on research and development projects, with the lion's share -- $747.3 million -- provided by the National Institutes of Health.
That spending included $33.7 million for mental health research, $28 million for cancer biology research and $24.4 million for drug abuse and addiction research.
The National Science Foundation provided $108.3 million, with $41.9 million going to operate the research vessel Marcus G. Langseth, which monitors seismic activity.
The Defense Department gave Columbia $59.3 million, including $14.9 million to develop new ways to regrow human skeletal muscles using gene-edited pigs, $10.7 million on vaccine testing and $6 million to create new forms of quantum matter with "ultra-fast nanolight."
The school also received a total of $376.5 million in federal tuition grants and loans, and another $1 million to provide services to disadvantaged students.
On April 23, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and other officials about what she called the the "ongoing crisis" at Columbia, where more than 300 demonstrators defied a 2 p.m. Monday deadline to leave an encampment of tents on campus or face suspension.
Stefanik said there was "clear and convincing evidence that students at Columbia have been targeted because they are Jewish" and demanded that the Education Department "revoke any federal funding flowing to Columbia and similar institutions."
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, schools that receive federal funding must ensure their students aren't subjected to discrimination, including harassment in the form of racial, ethnic or ancestral slurs or stereotypes.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., visited the campus in Upper Manhattan with other GOP lawmakers and said that if Columbia and other schools "cannot get control of this problem, they do not deserve taxpayer dollars."
Johnson doubled down on Friday, telling the Salem Radio Network, "We're looking at, very seriously, reducing or eliminating any federal funds at all to campuses who cannot maintain basic safety and security of Jewish students. That's what where looking at."
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala, also reposted a social media photo that purportedly shows pro-Palestinan activist at Columbia holding a sign that called a group of demonstrators waving Israeli flags "Al-Qasam's Next Targets," apparently referening Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades.
"This is disgusting. Any college or university that allows terrorist threats and antisemitic harassment on their campus shouldn't get a cent of federal funding," Britt wrote on April 21.
The Education Department hasn't responded but Cardona last week wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that antisemitism on college campuses was "unacceptable" and that he was "deeply concerned by what is happening at Columbia University."
A Columbia spokesperson declined to comment.
Any effort to cut Columbia's federal funding would involve an investigation by the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights that could take months or years, according to a Thursday report by Politico.
If the school were found to have violated federal law, it would be able to take corrective measures before being penalized, according to Politico, which also said the matter was complicated by a delay in the Education Department's plan to adopt a new rule regarding antisemitism.
