Topline
The Trump administration demanded Harvard hand over information about its foreign funding sources in a letter Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported, marking its latest attempt to intervene in the university as it seeks to force an ideological shift there and at other prominent higher education institutions across the country.
Harvard University on April 17, 2025 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Sophie Park/Getty … More
Key Facts
The education department in a letter to Harvard Thursday demanded it provide identities of the sources of its foreign funding, records of electronic communications and contracts with them, and information on foreign students who have been expelled from Harvard since 2016, the Journal reported.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon told the Journal in a statement the probe is to “ensure Harvard is not being manipulated by, or doing the bidding of, foreign entities.”
The education department accused Harvard of filing “incomplete and inaccurate” reports of its foreign funding sources between 2014 and 2019 in the letter.
Universities are required to disclose grants, contracts or gifts from foreign sources exceeding $250,000 to the federal government on a semiannual basis.
Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton defended the school’s reporting practices in a statement, telling Forbes it “has filed Section 117 reports for decades as part of its ongoing compliance with the law,” noting that the reports detail gifts and contracts, including those to provide “executive education, other training and academic publications.”
What To Watch For
The Trump administration also threatened earlier this week to ban foreign students from enrolling in Harvard. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned Wednesday she would revoke certification of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program if it does not provide by April 30 “detailed records on Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities.” Noem accused the university of “creating a hostile learning environment for Jewish students.” The Trump administration is investigating whether Harvard and dozens of other schools where pro-Palestinian protests took place last year adequately responded to incidents of antisemitism linked to some of the protests. Noem also announced she had cancelled $2.7 million in DHS grants to Harvard.
Key Background
The Trump administration on Monday said it would freeze $2.2 billion in federal funding and a $60 million federal contract for the school after it refused to accept a list of demands, including auditing students, faculty and leadership to ensure what the Trump administration referred to as “viewpoint diversity.” Harvard president Alan Garber said in a statement the requests “represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.” Trump also suggested Tuesday Harvard’s tax-exempt status should be revoked, and multiple outlets reported a short time later the IRS was reviewing its status and could soon make a decision whether to revoke it. Trump, while criticizing Harvard on Thursday in comments to reporters, suggested other tax-exempt entities are at risk, mentioning Columbia and Princeton universities and the nonprofit watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Tangent
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and House Republican Leadership Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., told Harvard in a letter Thursday it is probing the school’s refusal to meet the Trump administration’s demands, claiming it amounted to a failure to “comply with basic civil rights law obligations.” The committee requested a trove of records and communications related to various reform efforts dating back to January 2023, including governance and leadership reforms, hiring and admissions reforms, efforts to combat antisemitism in school programs, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The committee gave the school a May 1 deadline.
Further Reading
Trump Admin Threatens Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status And Enrollment Of Foreign Students (Forbes)
