Trump Administration Launches Probe Into Harvard’s International Student Financial Aid
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether Harvard University is allowing Chinese donors to create scholarships that exclude American students, adding to a series of federal inquiries against the Ivy League school.
Justice Department officials announced the review Monday, saying Harvard’s foreign funding disclosures “raised concerns” about possible discrimination against US students. The agency said Chinese donors have given money to support financial aid programs limited to students from certain countries, which could amount to illegal discrimination based on national origin.
“Schools cannot take federal dollars and then turn around and accept money from foreign sources to give financial aid that deliberately excludes American citizens,” said Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the department’s Civil Rights Division. “Doing so is illegal, and we will stop it wherever we find it.”
Harvard said it was reviewing the notice and stated that it “does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin in allocating financial aid.”
Federal disclosures show Harvard has accepted $630 million from Chinese sources over decades, out of about $4.5 billion in total foreign funding reported. The Justice Department cited those figures but did not single out any specific donors or programs.
The investigation makes the unusual legal argument that steering private funding to students of certain countries violates civil rights protections for US students. The Trump administration has repeatedly opened investigations against Harvard amid its broader push to combat alleged antisemitism and end what it calls “wokeness” in higher education. A federal judge has blocked the administration from cutting billions in federal research funding from the university.
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