Columbia students scramble to rescind applications after Trump’s $400m funding threat

University’s brand ‘beyond tarnished and ruined’ after protests, says consulting firm

By Susie Coen | March 20, 2025 1:13pm EST

Students are considering rescinding their applications to Columbia University after the Trump administration pulled $400 million of the university’s federal funding.

A statement from federal agencies said the money had been pulled owing to the “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students,” after the school last year became ground zero for student protests against the Hamas-Israel conflict.

One student, who already accepted a binding offer to attend the university, said he may take a gap year and apply to other institutions because he fears the name no longer “holds the value it once did”.

Others have been so put off by the uncertainty surrounding the university’s funding that they have considered writing to Columbia to request withdrawing their application, according to a top applications consultant.

“The brand name has been beyond tarnished and ruined,” Christopher Rim, chief executive of Command Education, told The Telegraph.

“Two years ago if you got into Columbia you were so happy. Now it’s like, okay, well, what are the other options out there,” he said.

Columbia, which is currently number 18 in the Times Higher Education World University rankings, previously saw students building encampments on the university lawn and taking over a department building in protest.

It sparked concerns about anti-Semitism on campus, with some Jewish students complaining they felt unsafe.

The university is reportedly gearing up to bow to Donald Trump’s demands in order to restore the funding, which includes banning masks and putting the department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies under “academic receivership,” meaning it will be placed under control of someone outside of the department.

Mr Rim, a university admissions consultancy firm, has helped around 100 prospective students apply to university this year, around 30 of whom applied to Columbia.

Wealthy parents spend $120,000-a-year from as young as 11 for Mr Rim’s services to help their children get into the best universities, with many spending years preparing to apply to the New York-based university.

Columbia on resume ‘no longer holds value’

One student, 17, who has been using Mr Rim’s services for four years said he was “excited” to attend Columbia after he received an early decision in December. Students who are accepted early must rescind all other applications as part of their agreement to attend the college.

His elder brother did not apply to Columbia last year because of the protests and was accepted into Yale and Princeton.

“Recent developments have led me to reconsider my commitment to Columbia,” the student, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

“The lab I had planned to work in is now facing potential loss of funding, which is deeply disappointing… Now, I am considering taking a gap year and reapplying to other universities next fall.

“At this point, having Columbia on my resume no longer holds the value it once did, particularly with CEOs and companies publicly stating they will not hire graduates from Columbia due to the current campus environment.”

‘I’m not gonna go’

Other applicants will find out if they have a place at any of America’s eight Ivy League universities next Thursday on what is referred to as “Ivy day”.

But Mr Rim said he has received a barrage of calls from “virtually every student” saying they no longer want to attend Columbia.

“We have some students who are saying whether or not I get in or not, I’m not gonna go,” he said.

“There are so many CEOs of major corporations and companies and finance companies, hedge funds, that are saying we will not be hiring from Columbia and singled out the name Colombia out of all the Ivy League colleges.

“We have students who are saying ‘Chris, should I try to make a statement and call the school and rescind my application?’ There’s no point, decisions are coming out in a week, so who cares if you don’t want to go, just don’t go, but I’m getting a lot of these calls.”

A student that Mr Rim helped get into Columbia last year has said the funding threat has put their research position in jeopardy and they have asked for help to transfer to another university this September.

Originally published on The Telegraph on March 20, 2025