The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that it has placed Harvard University on heightened cash monitoring as a result of “growing concerns” regarding its “financial position,” the latest pressure tactic against the school by the Trump administration
The department’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) will be monitoring the university’s spending, and will require it to “use its own funds to disburse federal student aid before drawing down funds from the Department,” according to the statement.
“Students will continue to have access to federal funding, but Harvard will be required to cover the initial disbursements as a guardrail to ensure Harvard is spending taxpayer funds responsibly,” the department of education said.
The FSA will also require Harvard to post “an irrevocable letter of credit for $36 million or provide other financial protection that is acceptable” to the department of education in order to guarantee that the university can reach financial obligations.
This move comes after “three triggering events,” according to the department, including a determination finding Harvard in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race or origin, its noncompliance to requests from the Office of Civil Rights and a concern that the university plans to issue over $1 billion in bonds to fund its operations.
“Today’s actions follow Harvard’s own admission that there are material concerns about its financial health,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “As a result, Harvard must now seek reimbursement after distributing federal student aid and post financial protection so that the Department can ensure taxpayer funds are not at risk. While Harvard remains eligible to participate in the federal student aid program for now, these actions are necessary to protect taxpayers.”
Also on Friday, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a “denial of access letter” to the university for what it said is its “continued refusal to provide documents and information as part of an OCR compliance review to determine if Harvard is illegally considering race in its undergraduate admissions process.”
“The highest court in our nation ruled conclusively that Harvard was illegally using extreme racial preferencing in their admissions processes,” McMahon said in a statement. “The Department has both the right and responsibility to verify Harvard’s compliance with federal civil rights laws. For all their claims, they refuse to provide evidence necessary for the Department to make that determination. What are they hiding?”
These are the latest attacks on Harvard from President Donald Trump’s administration, which has frozen $2 billion in grants from the university after it accused it of antisemitism. The university has disagreed with the administration’s findings.
Earlier this month, a federal judge in Boston ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze nearly $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard. The Trump administration said it will appeal the “egregious decision.”
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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