President Donald Trump called for Harvard University to pay a sweeping $500 million settlement to restore its federal funding, CNN reports.

Said Trump, to Education Secretary Linda McMahon: “We want nothing less than $500 million from Harvard. Don’t negotiate, Linda.”

He added: “They’ve been very bad. Don’t negotiate.”

“After months of targeting universities over antisemitism allegations, the Trump administration is turning to a new focus: whether schools are using proxies for race in admissions to diversify student bodies,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“This emphasis is emerging in recent edicts from federal agencies and in the White House’s scrutiny of specific universities.”

“The Trump administration said Friday it will not defend a decades-old grant program for colleges with large numbers of Hispanic students that is being challenged in court, declaring the government believes the funding is unconstitutional,” the AP reports.

“A Texas federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked from taking full effect a new state law requiring public schools to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms,” the Texas Tribune reports.

New York Times: “The law, passed earlier this year by the Republican-controlled Legislature, mirrors one in Louisiana that was declared ‘plainly unconstitutional’ in June by a panel of judges from the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. A federal judge also blocked a nearly identical measure in Arkansas this month.”

“Visitors to the US arriving on student visas plunged in July, falling year-on-year for a fourth straight month,” Bloomberg reports.

“The declines were most pronounced from Asia, the largest international education market, as the Trump administration’s immigration policies created bottlenecks and a chilling effect on prospective students.”

“Teachers from California and New York who want to work in Oklahoma public schools will be required to pass a certification test to prove they share the state’s conservative political values,” USA Today reports.

“Regardless of the subject or grade they teach, they’ll have to show they know ‘the biological differences between females and males’ and that they agree with the state’s American history standards, which includes elements of a conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party stole the 2020 presidential election from President Donald Trump, which fact checkers have said are false.”

Bloomberg: “Some borrowers say they are prioritizing essentials such as housing or groceries, while others refuse to pay as a form of protest.”

“Harvard University and the Trump administration are nearing a potentially landmark legal settlement that would see Harvard agree to spend $500 million in exchange for the restoration of billions of dollars in federal research funding,“ the New York Times reports.

“Negotiators for the White House and the university have made significant progress in their closed-door discussions over the past week, developing a framework for a settlement to end their monthslong battle.”

“The talks could still collapse, as President Trump and senior Harvard officials need to sign off on the terms of the deal.”

“The Trump administration is warning Harvard University that it could take over its patents, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, if a review finds the university hasn’t complied with federal law, an escalation of the continuing negotiations between the White House and America’s oldest university,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, marking the latest effort by the White House to shape higher education and extract significant concessions from universities,” CNN reports.

Associated Press: “The loss of an estimated $2.6 billion in federal funding at Harvard has meant that some of the world’s most prominent researchers are laying off young researchers. They are shelving years or even decades of research, into everything from opioid addiction to cancer.”

“And despite Harvard’s lawsuits against the administration, and settlement talks between the warring parties, researchers are confronting the fact that some of their work may never resume.”

Harvard University president Alan Garber told faculty a deal between the Ivy League institution and the Trump administration is not imminent – and denied reports that the university is considering a $500 million settlement with the White House, The Crimson reports.

“A group of House and Senate Democrats who attended Harvard are threatening their alma mater with a ‘rigorous’ investigation if the school cuts a deal to end hostilities with President Trump,” Axios reports.

“Brown University will pay $50 million in a deal with the Trump administration that will restore the university’s research funds and settle discrimination complaints,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The deal follows Columbia University’s agreement to pay $200 million to the federal government over three years to settle allegations it violated antidiscrimination law and to restore federal funding.”

“Harvard University has signaled a willingness to meet the Trump administration’s demand to spend as much as $500 million to end its dispute with the White House as talks between the two sides intensify,“ the New York Times reports.

“According to one of the people, Harvard is reluctant to directly pay the federal government, but negotiators are still discussing the exact financial terms.”