The Justice Department said Monday it is reviewing whether Harvard University accepted foreign donations that improperly favored students from China and other countries over American students.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said, "Every American student should have an equal opportunity to compete for college scholarships, grants, and other kinds of financial aid and benefits. Schools cannot take federal dollars and then turn around and accept money from foreign sources to give financial aid that deliberately excludes American citizens — doing so is illegal, and we will stop it wherever we find it."
The department said Harvard's foreign-funding disclosures raised concerns that some donors imposed nationality-based restrictions on financial aid and that officials are examining whether those arrangements violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bars federally funded institutions from discriminating based on national origin.
Officials said some China-based donors directed Harvard to use their money for aid programs benefiting students from particular countries and alleged that complying with those restrictions could disadvantage students of other nationalities, including Americans; the department added that the review remains ongoing, it has not reached any conclusions, and it did not identify the specific scholarships or donors under examination.
Harvard denied that its financial aid policies violate federal civil rights law, saying, "Harvard follows the law for required reporting of donations and, consistent with our legal obligations under Title VI, does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin in allocating financial aid."
Federal law requires colleges and universities to report foreign gifts and contracts worth at least $250,000, and the Justice Department said a Civil Rights Division audit of those disclosures found that Harvard had reported nearly $4.5 billion in foreign funding, including over $630 million from China, its largest foreign source.
The university said it provides need-based institutional aid to international students and uses private scholarship and employment funds to support students from outside the country; some private gifts have been designated for students from specific nations, and the department noted that in 2014 SOHO China co-founders Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin donated $15 million to support Chinese students at Harvard but has not said whether that gift is part of its review.
The inquiry adds another front to the Trump administration's broader conflict with Harvard, federal officials have also scrutinized the university over alleged antisemitism, admissions practices and its treatment of foreign students, and a federal judge previously blocked the administration from cutting billions of dollars in research funding from Harvard as related litigation continues.