The university was open to spending $500 million, but a $50 million settlement with Brown has prompted new debates in Cambridge.

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 has told faculty that a deal with the Trump administration is not imminent and denied that the University is considering a $500 million settlement, according to three faculty members familiar with the matter.

Some feared that Harvard could be ready to pay even more than other Ivy League schools did to settle disputes with the White House.