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The Education Department said Harvard refused to provide information necessary for the government to make a determination in its civil rights investigation, despite the school sending over 500 pages of documentation to the government. | Steven Senne/AP
By JUAN PEREZ JR. and REBECCA CARBALLO09/19/2025 04:02 PM EDT
The Trump administration escalated its pressure campaign against Harvard University on Friday with a new effort to choke off the Ivy League institution’s access to federal student aid reimbursements while also accusing the school of stonewalling a federal civil rights investigation.
In a letter sent to university President Alan Garber, the Education Department said Harvard must now use its own money to pay for student loans and grants before the government will repay the school with federal aid that normally covers those expenses.
In a separate letter, the department also gave Harvard a 20-day deadline to either turn over detailed information about its undergraduate admissions or risk additional financial penalties as Trump officials investigate the school for alleged racial discrimination.
Taken together, the moves deepen a standoff between the country’s oldest higher education institution and the administration that has dragged through the courts — and shows no signs of ending.
Friday’s moves also marked a new set of tactics from the administration in a broad offensive that has targeted Harvard’s tax-exempt status, federal research funding, foreign student enrollment, and patents. Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled the administration’s attempt to freeze more than $2 billion of Harvard’s research grants was illegal.
The Education Department said Friday’s sanctions were prompted by Harvard’s lack of cooperation with a civil rights investigation to determine if the school illegally considers race in its admissions process, plus the school’s alleged failure to address campus antisemitism and recent moves to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars.
Harvard representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Today
Trump administration widens Harvard rift with student aid, civil rights actions
New sanctions issued by the Trump administration deepen its standoff with the country’s oldest higher education institution.
The Education Department said Harvard refused to provide information necessary for the government to make a determination in its civil rights investigation, despite the school sending over 500 pages of documentation to the government. | Steven Senne/AP
By JUAN PEREZ JR. and REBECCA CARBALLO09/19/2025 04:02 PM EDT
The Trump administration escalated its pressure campaign against Harvard University on Friday with a new effort to choke off the Ivy League institution’s access to federal student aid reimbursements while also accusing the school of stonewalling a federal civil rights investigation.
In a letter sent to university President Alan Garber, the Education Department said Harvard must now use its own money to pay for student loans and grants before the government will repay the school with federal aid that normally covers those expenses.
In a separate letter, the department also gave Harvard a 20-day deadline to either turn over detailed information about its undergraduate admissions or risk additional financial penalties as Trump officials investigate the school for alleged racial discrimination.
Taken together, the moves deepen a standoff between the country’s oldest higher education institution and the administration that has dragged through the courts — and shows no signs of ending.
Friday’s moves also marked a new set of tactics from the administration in a broad offensive that has targeted Harvard’s tax-exempt status, federal research funding, foreign student enrollment, and patents. Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled the administration’s attempt to freeze more than $2 billion of Harvard’s research grants was illegal.
The Education Department said Friday’s sanctions were prompted by Harvard’s lack of cooperation with a civil rights investigation to determine if the school illegally considers race in its admissions process, plus the school’s alleged failure to address campus antisemitism and recent moves to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars.
Harvard representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
