U.S. Department of Education tells Harvard it will freeze billions in future grants, aid

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: May 05, 2025 10:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

The U.S. Department of Education informed Harvard University connected Monday that it was freezing billions of dollars successful aboriginal probe grants and different assistance until the nation's oldest and wealthiest assemblage concedes to a fig of demands from the Trump administration, a elder section authoritative said.

The determination represents the latest salvo from a Trump medication consenting to usage the powerfulness of the national purse to unit institutions, from instrumentality firms to universities, to marque sweeping argumentation changes oregon other suffer billions of dollars successful national grants and contracts.

In a missive to Harvard, U.S. Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon said the assemblage indispensable code concerns astir antisemitism connected campus, schoolhouse policies that see a student's contention and complaints from the medication the assemblage has abandoned its pursuit of "academic excellence" portion employing comparatively fewer blimpish module members.

"This missive is to pass you that Harvard should nary longer question grants from the national government, since nary volition beryllium provided," McMahon wrote.

Harvard said the McMahon missive doubles down connected demands that would enforce "unprecedented and improper control" implicit the assemblage and makes caller threats to "illegally" withhold backing for lifesaving research. "Harvard volition besides proceed to support against amerciable authorities overreach aimed astatine stifling probe and innovation that marque Americans safer and much secure," a assemblage spokesperson said.

The frost of aboriginal backing represents a somewhat altered maneuver by the Trump administration, whose attempts to frost apical schools of existing funds raised ineligible eyebrows.

Harvard targeted implicit allegations of antisemitism connected campus

Trump has targeted Harvard implicit allegations of antisemitism connected field during pro-Palestinian protests. The protests were sparked by U.S. state Israel's subject battle connected Gaza aft the October 2023 onslaught connected Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants.

Trump has alleged pro-Palestinian protesters are antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas. Protesters, including immoderate Jewish groups, accidental the authorities wrongly conflate their disapproval of Israel's actions successful Gaza with antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with enactment for extremism.

In caller weeks, the medication began a ceremonial reappraisal into astir $9 cardinal US successful national backing for Harvard, and demanded the assemblage prohibition diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and ace down connected immoderate pro-Palestinian groups and masks successful protests.

Harvard rejected galore Trump demands past month, calling them an onslaught connected escaped code and world freedom. It sued the Trump medication aft it suspended much than $2 cardinal US successful national backing for the acquisition institution, portion besides pledging to tackle favoritism connected campus.

In its suit against the Trump administration, Harvard said the government's backing cuts volition person stark "real-life consequences for patients, students, faculty, unit [and] researchers" portion putting successful jeopardy important aesculapian and technological research.

Harvard has a $53-billion US endowment, the largest of immoderate U.S. university, but the funds are often restricted and utilized for things similar fiscal assistance and scholarships.