The Trump administration is turning its sights to Harvard University, opening a review of nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts as part of its investigation into how schools have handled antisemitism.
The administration said it would examine $255.6 million in current contracts and $8.7 billion in grants spread over multiple years. That money is spread among Harvard and its affiliates, which include Boston-area hospitals.
The move places Harvard alongside Columbia University in Trump’s crosshairs as a fight brews over the future of higher education in America.
Earlier this month, the government canceled $400 million in grants and contracts with Columbia over antisemitism concerns. Columbia agreed to meet a series of far-reaching government demands as a precondition to negotiate for the return of the money. On Friday, Columbia’s interim president stepped down after making comments in private meetings with faculty that played down changes the school agreed to with the Trump administration.
The government so far is reviewing, not canceling, the grants and contracts at Harvard. At Columbia, the money was canceled.
Harvard was one of 60 schools the Education Department contacted earlier this month warning them of potential enforcement actions if they didn’t adequately protect Jewish students on campus. The concerns arose after pro-Palestinian protests disrupted campuses nationwide last year.
“This administration has proven that we will take swift action to hold institutions accountable if they allow anti-Semitism to fester,” said Josh Gruenbaum, an official with the General Services Administration and a member of the government’s recently formed antisemitism task force. “We will not hesitate to act if Harvard fails to do so.”
Trump has vowed to rid elite campuses of what he views as left-wing ideology and has made a series of moves aimed at doing so. Earlier this month, his administration paused about $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania for allowing a transgender athlete to compete on the women’s swimming team.
Schools nationwide have watched Trump’s battle with Columbia with alarm; many fear a demand for similar concessions. They have expressed concern that without freedom to follow their intellectual curiosity, the discoveries and innovations that fuel the U.S.’s economy will decline.
In a letter to the Harvard community Monday night, president Alan Garber said if the federal government removes its funding, that would halt life-saving research. “We fully embrace the important goal of combatting antisemitism, one of the most insidious forms of bigotry,” he wrote. “Urgent action and deep resolve are needed to address this serious problem that is growing across America and around the world.”
Almost all schools—public and private—depend on the U.S. government for access to federal student loans and grants for low-income students. Research universities rely on the government for billions of dollars in contracts and grants.
With federal funding uncertain, schools have started to pause hiring; some have rescinded graduate-student admission offers.
