39 Trump-Proof Universities

Forbes

The president has frozen federal research funding for a host of American colleges and universities—even issuing specific demands of some top schools in exchange for federal dollars. These 39 institutions have the wherewithal to join Harvard in its resistance to Trump’s assault.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2025/04/16/39-trump-proof-universities/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, 39 Trump-Proof Universities.

00:06Quote, Research powers progress, is splashed in white text across the Harvard University homepage,

00:13a tagline preceding a string of the Ivy League University's recent scientific breakthroughs.

00:19Those breakthroughs include more effective treatments of clinical depression

00:22and achievements in robotics helping stroke victims regain mobility.

00:27It's also a not-so-subtle rebuke of the Trump administration's wide-ranging attack on university research funding.

00:35Harvard made headlines Monday when its president, Alan Garber, stood up against the Trump administration,

00:42refusing to cave to demands that the university eliminate diversity programs,

00:46curb student protests, and allow federal audits in exchange for its federal funding.

00:52Garber's rejection of Trump's demands followed an announcement from federal agencies

00:56that they would review $9 billion in funding for Harvard two weeks earlier.

01:01The Trump administration swiftly hit back, freezing $2.2 billion in multi-year grants

01:07and $60 million in multi-year contracts for the university.

01:12On Tuesday morning, Trump threatened to strip the university of its tax-exempt status via a post on Truth Social.

01:19It's a dramatic loss of funding, but as Garber likely calculated, Harvard can afford it.

01:27The 388-year-old university has a $53 billion endowment, the largest in the world,

01:33a AAA debt rating, and relatively little reliance on federal support for its operations

01:38compared to some of Harvard's peers.

01:40While rare among America's thousands of colleges, Harvard is not alone.

01:47Forbes has identified 39 schools that have the revenue diversity and the financial strength,

01:52primarily in the form of a large endowment, to resist the Trump administration's demands to come to heel,

01:58which have been under the guise of combating anti-Semitism on campus.

02:02It's not just a list of the richest colleges.

02:05Columbia University, with its $14.8 billion endowment, is absent,

02:10as is Cornell University, which has an endowment worth about $10.2 billion.

02:16Both of these Ivy League institutions enroll tens of thousands of students,

02:20far more than some of their peers,

02:21and have per-student endowments of about $360,000 each.

02:27Columbia, after being threatened it would lose $400 million in federal grants and contracts,

02:32ultimately cave to the administration's demands,

02:35including to review its Middle East Studies programs

02:37and overhaul its student protest policies

02:40by hiring 36 special officers and banning the use of face coverings to conceal identity.

02:47All 39 of the institutions on our list have endowments worth at least $500,000 per student

02:53and earned at least a B-plus grade on the Forbes Financial Grade Ranking.

02:57All but one of the schools, $33 billion endowment Princeton University,

03:02relies on federal dollars for 20% or less of its operating revenues.

03:07In February, Yale University, with a $40.7 billion endowment and A-plus financial grade,

03:14announced a plan to continue funding faculty members and graduate students

03:18whose grants were unexpectedly terminated.

03:20Other wealthy, private research institutions also appear on the list,

03:25including the University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University,

03:29and Washington University in St. Louis.

03:32Making up a bulk of the list are wealthy liberal arts and faith-based institutions,

03:37including Rivals Williams and Amherst College in Western Massachusetts,

03:41each with an endowment of $3.3 billion and A-plus financial grades,

03:46and Davidson College in North Carolina,

03:49with a $1.3 billion endowment and A financial grade.

03:53These types of smaller institutions are more heavily focused on undergraduate teaching,

03:58which does not rely on federal research funding.

04:01For those that plan to push back against the administration

04:05and potentially forego federal research dollars,

04:08Lucy Lepofsky, a higher education finance and governance consultant

04:12and former president of New York's Mercy College,

04:15explains that it won't be as simple as dipping into their large endowment nest eggs

04:19to make up for any shortfalls.

04:21She says, quote,

04:23Most of the funding that is being frozen is research funding,

04:26and most endowment money is restricted to specific things.

04:29So you couldn't suddenly divert it to AIDS research or cancer research or climate research

04:34because it's paying for scholarships or for faculty chairs or things like that.

04:39For full coverage, and to see our list of the 39 Trump-proof universities,

04:44check out Emma Whitford's piece on Forbes.com.

04:49This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:51Thanks for tuning in.

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