Trump administration freezes $339M in UCLA grants and accuses the school of rights violations

The Trump administration is freezing $339 million in research grants to the University of California, Los Angeles, accusing the school of civil rights violations related to antisemitism, affirmative action and women’s sports, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The federal government has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against private colleges but this is one of the rare cases it has targeted a public university.

Several federal agencies notified UCLA this week that they were suspending grants over civil rights concerns, including $240 million from the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, according to the person, who spoke about internal deliberations on the condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration recently announced the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division found UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.”

Last week, Columbia agreed to pay $200 million as part of a settlement to resolve investigations into the government’s allegations that the school violated federal antidiscrimination laws. The agreement also restores more than $400 million in research grants.

The Trump administration plans to use its deal with Columbia as a template for other universities, with financial penalties that are now seen as an expectation.

The National Science Foundation said in a statement it informed UCLA that it was suspending funding awards because the school isn’t in line with the agency’s priorities.

UCLA’s chancellor Julio Frenk called the government’s decision “deeply disappointing.”

“With this decision, hundreds of grants may be lost, adversely affecting the lives and life-changing work of UCLA researchers, faculty and staff,” he said in a statement.

The Department of Energy said in its letter it found several “examples of noncompliance” and faulted UCLA for inviting applicants to disclose their race in personal statements and for considering factors including family income and ZIP code. Affirmative action in college admissions was outlawed in California in 1996 and struck down by the Supreme Court in 2023.

The letter said the school has taken steps that amount to “a transparent attempt to engage in race-based admissions in all but name,” disadvantaging white, Jewish and Asian American applicants.

It also said UCLA fails to promote an environment free from antisemitism and discriminates against women by allowing transgender women to compete on women’s teams.

Frenk said that in its letter the federal government “claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons” to freeze the funding but “this far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination.”

Earlier this week, UCLA reached a $6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor who sued the university arguing it violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters in 2024 to block their access to classes and other areas on campus.

UCLA initially had argued that it had no legal responsibility over the issue because protesters, not the university, blocked Jewish students’ access to some areas. The university also worked with law enforcement to thwart attempts to set up new protest camps.

The university has said that it’s committed to campus safety and inclusivity and will continue to implement recommendations.

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Rodriguez reported from San Francisco and Binkley from Washington.