Trump administration says Harvard will receive no new grants until it
meets White House demands
[May 06, 2025]
By COLLIN BINKLEY and JOCELYN GECKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — Harvard University will receive no new federal grants
until it meets a series of demands from President Donald Trump’s
administration, the Education Department announced Monday.
The action was laid out in a letter to Harvard’s president and amounts
to a major escalation of Trump’s battle with the Ivy League school. The
administration previously froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to
Harvard, and Trump is pushing to strip the school of its tax-exempt
status.
Harvard has pushed back on the administration's demands, setting up a
closely watched clash in Trump's attempt to force change at universities
that he says have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism.
In a press call, an Education Department official said Harvard will
receive no new federal grants until it “demonstrates responsible
management of the university” and satisfies federal demands on a range
of subjects. The ban applies to federal research grants and not to
federal financial aid that helps students cover college tuition and
fees.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the decision on
a call with reporters.
Trump administration enumerates Harvard's ‘failures’
The official accused Harvard of “serious failures." The person said
Harvard has allowed antisemitism and racial discrimination to
perpetuate, it has abandoned rigorous academic standards, and it has
failed to allow a range of views on its campus. To become eligible for
new grants, Harvard would need to enter negotiations with the federal
government and prove it has satisfied the administration’s requirements.
The Trump administration has demanded Harvard make broad government and
leadership changes, revise its admissions policy and audit its faculty
and student body to ensure the campus is home to many points of view.
The demands are part of a pressure campaign targeting several other
high-profile universities. The administration has cut off money to
colleges including Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania
and Cornell University, seeking compliance with Trump’s agenda.
The White House says it's targeting campus antisemitism after
pro-Palestinian protests swept U.S. college campuses last year. It's
also focused on the participation of transgender athletes in women’s
sports. And the attacks on Harvard increasingly have called out the
university's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, along with
questions about freedom of speech and thought by conservatives on
campus.
In a letter Monday to Harvard's president, Education Secretary Linda
McMahon accused the school of enrolling foreign students who showed
contempt for the U.S.
“Harvard University has made a mockery of this country’s higher
education system,” McMahon wrote.
Harvard says government is exerting ‘improper control’
Harvard’s president has previously said he will not bend to the
government’s demands. The university sued last month to halt the
government's funding freeze.
A Harvard statement Monday reiterated the university’s refusal to
acquiesce and said the government was retaliating for Harvard's lawsuit.
[to top of second column]
|
“Today, we received another letter from the administration doubling
down on demands that would impose unprecedented and improper control
over Harvard University and would have chilling implications for
higher education,” Harvard said. The university said it will
“continue to defend against illegal government overreach aimed at
stifling research and innovation that make Americans safer and more
secure.”
In a conversation with alumni last week, Harvard President Alan
Garber acknowledged there was a “kernel of truth” to criticism over
antisemitism, freedom of speech and wide viewpoints at Harvard. But
he said the conflict with the federal government has become a threat
to the school’s autonomy.
“We were faced with a recent demand from the federal government
that, in the guise of combating antisemitism, raised new issues of
control that frankly we did not anticipate, getting to the heart of
governance," Garber said. “We felt that we had to take a stand.”
Harvard’s lawsuit said the funding freeze violated the school’s
First Amendment rights and the statutory provisions of Title VI of
the Civil Rights Act. But the stakes go beyond Harvard, Garber said.
“Let us not mistake the issue that we face right now," he said. "It
is an assault on higher education.”
Harvard's large endowment has limits
The Trump administration said previously that Harvard would need to
meet a series of conditions to keep almost $9 billion in grants and
contracts.
The school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has an endowment of $53
billion, the largest in the country. Across the university, federal
money accounted for 10.5% of revenue in 2023, not counting financial
aid such as Pell grants and student loans.
Harvard isn't alone in its reliance on federal money. Universities
receive about 90% of all federal research spending, taking in $59.6
billion in 2023, according to the National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics.
That accounts for more than half the $109 billion spent on research
at universities, with most of the rest coming from college
endowments, state and local governments and nonprofits.
To make up for the loss in federal funding, McMahon on Monday
suggested Harvard rely on “its colossal endowment” and raise money
from wealthy alumni.
Harvard generally steers about 5% of its endowment value toward
university operations every year, accounting for about a third of
its total budget, according to university documents.
The university could draw more from its endowment, but colleges
generally try to avoid spending more than 5% to protect investment
gains. Like other schools, Harvard is limited in how it spends
endowment money, much of which comes from donors who specify how
they want it to be used.
___
AP writer Adam Geller contributed reporting from New York.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
