President Trump has set his sights on defunding colleges, singling out some of the world's wealthiest schools in what critics say is an attack on academic freedom. The Trump administration is seeking to exert extraordinary influence over American universities by withholding the federal financial support that has flowed to campuses for decades. University leaders fear that by threatening to withhold funding, or suspending it with little or no warning, the government is trying to stamp out academic freedom, a cornerstone of the American education system. So far, seven universities have been singled out for punitive funding cuts or have been explicitly notified that their funding is in serious jeopardy. They are: Brown University, Columbia, Cornell University, Harvard University, Northwestern, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University.