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Columbia University plans to rely more heavily on its endowment to finance operations next year, following sweeping research funding cuts imposed by President Donald Trump.

In its annual financial statement released late on Thursday, the New York Ivy League school said it had taken the rare step of drawing directly from its endowment to create a “research stabilisation fund” to offset $400mn in funding cuts by the White House. The fund has issued more than 500 internal research grants.

The university also said its trustees approved a limited-term increase in its use of endowment returns to fund operations for fiscal year 2026 as part of its “financial stabilisation efforts”.

Columbia’s struggle to maintain its financial health highlights the growing pressure on US universities resulting from the Trump administration’s use of funding cuts as leverage for greater federal control of higher education.

Columbia is among the US universities hit hardest by federal research-funding cuts since the president returned to office, after the administration made the school — home to one of the country’s largest student protests over Israel’s war in Gaza — a target of greater political scrutiny.

Columbia’s operating surplus fell to $113mn this year from $305mn in 2024 — a result Anne Sullivan, the university’s executive vice-president for finance, described as “modest” and “below our historical average” after the government suspended hundreds of research grants earlier this year.

Sullivan said the university experienced a “major destabilising event” after the government terminated more than 350 grants, worth over $1.3bn, in March. The situation has eased since July, when the Trump administration reinstated 260 research grants to Columbia after the university agreed to a $221mn settlement resolving federal investigations into its handling of antisemitism on campus.

While Columbia’s financial statement reported a mere 1 per cent decline in government grants and contracts this year from 2024, Sullivan said the figure “does not adequately capture the level of strain experienced by the research enterprise” in the third and fourth quarters.

She said: “Because tapping endowment for one-time purposes erodes our future capacity to provide support for programmes dependent on the annual distribution, utilising endowment assets in this way, beyond our annual distribution, is a rare and multi-faceted decision which we do not make lightly.”

Columbia’s finances have also benefited from a 12.4 per cent gain on its endowment in the year to June — the highest annual return in seven years. Kim Lew, chief executive of Columbia Investment Management Company, said the result was driven by gains in stocks and an improvement in private investment returns.

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GBank Financial Holdings Inc. (the “Company”) (Nasdaq: GBFH), the parent company for GBank (the “Bank”), today announced it has updated the date for the release its third quarter 2025 financial results from after the market closes on Monday, October 27, 2025 to after the market closes on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.  The timing of the quarterly earnings call remains unchanged on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., PST. Interested parties can participate remotely via Internet connectivity. There will be no physical location for attendance.

Interested parties may join online, via the ZOOM app on their smartphones, or by telephone:

• ZOOM Webinar ID 873 1389 3095
• Passcode: 468468

Joining by ZOOM Webinar:

Log in on your computer at
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87313893095?pwd=YmbAmd09zQhXfDQHNSTFXM79DU8Vma.1
or use the ZOOM app on your smartphone.

Joining by Telephone

Dial (408) 638-0968. The conference ID is 873 1389 3095. Passcode: 468468.

About GBank Financial Holdings Inc.

GBank Financial Holdings Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada and is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “GBFH.” Our national payment and Gaming FinTech business lines serve gaming clients across the U.S. and feature the GBank Visa Signature® Card—a tailored product for the gaming and sports entertainment markets. The Bank is also a top national SBA lender, now operating across 40 states. Through our wholly owned bank subsidiary, GBank, we operate two full-service commercial branches in Las Vegas, Nevada to provide a broad range of business, commercial and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities and affluent individuals in Nevada, California, Utah, and Arizona. Please visit www.gbankfinancialholdings.com for more information.

Available Information

The Company routinely posts important information for investors on its web site (under www.gbankfinancialholdings.com and, more specifically, under the News & Media tab at www.gbankfinancialholdings.com/press-releases). The Company intends to use its web site as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Accordingly, investors should monitor the Company’s web site, in addition to following the Company’s press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts.

The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, the Company’s web site is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document.

For Further Information, Contact:

GBank Financial Holdings Inc.
Edward M. Nigro
Chairman and CEO
702-851-4200
enigro@g.bank

Source: GBank Financial Holdings Inc.