Justice Department Investigates Harvard’s Financial Aid Program for Alleged Discrimination Against Americans

The Justice Department is investigating whether Harvard University is discriminating against Americans through its financial aid program. On Monday, the Justice Department said it is reviewing Harvard’s financial disclosures of donations from foreign sources. The department said Harvard is “the American university receiving the most funding from foreign sources,” with $4.5 billion in foreign funds going back more than 25 years. Roughly $630 million came from sources in Communist China. Those funds, according to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, come with a condition that they be used for financial aid programs “with preference given to students from particular countries.”The Justice Department alleges that the elite university is “providing student financial aid to foreign students, presumably Chinese, based on their national origin — to the potential detriment of students of other national origins, including American citizens.”The head of the Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon, said in a statement, “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.”Harvard provides needs-based scholarships to American and international students, while federal grants, loans and other forms of financial aid are limited to American citizens. The university has previously faced criticism over Chinese donations that go to financial aid. In 2014, a Chinese couple that co-founded the real estate company SOHO China, Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin, donated $15 million to provide financial aid to Chinese students. Harvard denied that its financial aid policies violate federal law.“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,” the university said in a statement. The Justice Department said that it has not come to a conclusion about whether Harvard is in violation of federal civil rights law. However, the investigation is an expansion of the Trump administration’s conflict with the university.Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, the federal government has carried out a multipronged campaign against Harvard due to concerns about failures to crack down on antisemitism and the university’s connections to Communist China. Last June, President Trump issued a proclamation that blocked foreign students from traveling to America to attend Harvard. The move came as the federal government said the university declined to hand over international students’ disciplinary records and information on their protest activity. A federal judge blocked that order until the university’s challenge is resolved. The Trump administration also tried to cut off $2.5 billion in funding for research grants for Harvard, which was reversed by another federal judge pending the outcome of that challenge. While the administration is appealing the decision to block those moves, the federal government has also been trying to negotiate a settlement with Harvard to end the standoff. But in February, Mr. Trump seemed to throw those discussions into turmoil as he posted on Truth Social that he wanted the university to pay $1 billion for its “heinous illegalities.” Harvard has rejected the idea of such a payment.

Justice Department Investigates Harvard’s Financial Aid Program for Alleged Discrimination Against Americans

Justice Department Investigates Harvard’s Financial Aid Program for Alleged Discrimination Against Americans

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