By Betsy Klein, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, CNN has exclusively learned, marking the latest effort by the White House to shape higher education and extract significant concessions from universities.

Last week, the Trump administration began freezing millions in funding to UCLA, with the school’s chancellor Julio Frenk saying in a letter to the university community this week that $584 million “is suspended and at risk” and warning of “devastating” consequences to its research mission.

Officials from UCLA have now returned to the negotiating table, a source familiar with the matter said, and have made clear they would like to reach a deal to restore that funding. The Trump administration, in turn, is laying its marker for a high-dollar settlement.

University of California President James B. Milliken responded to the proposed deal in a statement Friday afternoon, saying that the school is reviewing the document from the Department of Justice but casting the settlement figure as a nonstarter that would “devastate” the university.

“Earlier this week, we offered to engage in good faith dialogue with the Department to protect the University and its critical research mission. As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians,” Milliken said.

A draft of a proposed agreement sent to the school Friday and obtained by CNN requires UCLA to pay the federal government $1 billion over multiple installments, along with a $172 million claims fund for people impacted by violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

The agreement the administration is proposing – which, if agreed to, would mark the biggest settlement it’s received from a higher education institution — requires a resolution monitor to oversee the school, as well as a new senior administrator who will be focused on compliance with anti-discrimination laws.

The proposed agreement prohibits overnight demonstrations and calls on the school to revise its policies and procedures on protests. It also requires UCLA to discontinue race and ethnicity-based scholarships and provide the resolution monitor with admissions data.

The proposal would ensure single-sex housing for women on campus and ensure athletic recognition for female athletes in women’s sports. The UCLA hospital and medical school will also be expected to stop providing gender-affirming care.

In return, UCLA’s funding would be restored and the school would be eligible for future federal grants and contracts.

The Trump administration has targeted UCLA, along with other schools, as it cracks down on alleged antisemitism on college campuses. The school is currently under an antisemitism investigation by the Department of Justice.

UCLA in March launched its own initiative to combat antisemitism and last week settled a lawsuit that accused the university of letting Jewish students get targeted during 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

The proposed deal comes as President Donald Trump and his team have pushed for policy changes at colleges and universities, including over diversity, equity and inclusion and other initiatives. The Trump administration has heralded multi-million-dollar deals in recent days with Brown University and Columbia University, and it remains engaged in a pair of lawsuits with Harvard University.

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, lambasted the proposed agreement with UCLA as “morally unacceptable” and “mob boss behavior” by Trump.

“In California, we support trans people, we welcome immigrants, we celebrate our beautiful diversity, and we uphold academic freedom. We do not bow to fascist tactics,” Wiener said in a statement to CNN.

Wiener, who co-chairs the state’s Legislative Jewish Caucus, acknowledged that there have been “serious antisemitism issues at UCLA” but said the school is taking steps to address it and has “made progress.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

The-CNN-Wire
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