Harvard University says it’s finally seeing the first signs that federal research funding—cut off for months by the Trump administration—might be on its way back.
The school confirmed this week that it’s received notices from several federal agencies saying research grants will be reinstated, following a federal judge’s ruling that the cuts were unconstitutional. Still, no money has actually hit Harvard’s accounts yet.
“We’re monitoring funding receipts closely,” said university spokesperson Jason Newton, noting that it’s too soon to tell how quickly money will start flowing again.
The backdrop: Last week, a federal judge in Boston ordered the government to undo more than $2.6 billion in cuts, calling the freeze an illegal retaliation. The judge went further, accusing the Trump administration of using “antisemitism as a smokescreen” for an ideological campaign against the school.
The dispute dates back to April, when the administration slashed Harvard’s research funding after the school resisted a series of demands tied to a federal probe into campus antisemitism. Harvard pushed back in court, arguing the government was punishing the university unlawfully.
Harvard has been a particular focus of Donald Trump’s broader push to reshape higher education. While Columbia and Brown have already struck settlements with the government to restore funding, Trump has insisted that Harvard pay at least $500 million as part of any deal. At a Cabinet meeting in August, he doubled down, telling Education Secretary Linda McMahon: “They’ve been very bad. Don’t negotiate.”
In the meantime, Harvard’s been fighting on multiple fronts. Beyond the grant cuts, the administration has launched a wave of investigations and even tried to block the school from enrolling international students—a move stopped by the courts in June.
For now, reinstatement notices are a promising step, but the standoff is far from over. The government has said it will appeal the judge’s decision, leaving Harvard’s researchers still in limbo as they wait for actual funding to return. Photo by chensiyuan, Wikimedia commons.
