The Trump administration has suspended $584 million in federal grants to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), nearly double the previously reported amount, Chancellor Julio Frenk announced on Wednesday.
UCLA becomes the first public university targeted under the administration’s intensified crackdown on alleged civil rights violations, including antisemitism and affirmative action. Previously, similar actions had been taken against private institutions.
“If these funds remain suspended, it will be devastating for UCLA and for Americans across the nation,” Frenk warned, highlighting the university’s legacy in groundbreaking research. The affected funding spans critical programs supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division said 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.”
The funding suspension follows a $6 million legal settlement between UCLA and three Jewish students, along with a Jewish professor, who claimed the university failed to protect them when pro-Palestinian protesters blocked their access to classes and other facilities in 2024.
As part of that settlement, UCLA agreed to:
- Allocate $2.3 million to eight organizations that combat antisemitism and support Jewish life on campus.
- Establish a new Office of Campus and Community Safety to oversee protest management.
- Implement updated policies addressing campus bias and inclusivity.
Chancellor Frenk, whose family history includes fleeing Nazi persecution and surviving the Holocaust, has also launched a university-wide initiative to combat antisemitism and anti-Israel bias.
University of California President James B. Milliken condemned the funding freeze, saying, “These cuts do nothing to address antisemitism. Moreover, the extensive work that UCLA and the entire UC system have undertaken to fight antisemitism has been apparently ignored.”
He warned the funding cuts would severely harm research and innovation efforts that benefit public health, economic growth, and national security. Milliken confirmed that the UC system is currently in discussions with federal officials over the case.
The UCLA decision mirrors recent federal action against Columbia University, which agreed last month to a $200 million settlement to resolve similar civil rights allegations. Following that agreement, over $400 million in federal research grants were reinstated.
The Trump administration has signaled that the Columbia settlement will serve as a blueprint for enforcing civil rights compliance at other institutions, with financial penalties expected to play a key role in future cases.
