The Trump administration on Friday opened a new front in its pressure campaign on Harvard University, demanding proof of the financial stability of the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college as well as a guarantee that federal debts will be paid if the school “closes or terminates classes.”
The government letter asking for the information does not include any specific allegations that Harvard has failed to meet its obligations. It comes after the administration has spent months pointing to the university’s wealth and “colossal endowment” as a reason to question its reliance on federal research funding.
Still, the administration is insisting on a guarantee of more than $36 million, representing about 30 percent of the federal financial aid that has flowed to the university during the past year, because of financial risks posed by more than a dozen government investigations targeting the university.
Harvard officials have never suggested that the university’s financial footing is in any immediate danger. University leaders have, however, expressed concerns about the potential long-term effect of the monthslong battle with the administration, which has resulted in the freezing of billions of dollars in federal research funds.
In a separate letter, the administration on Friday also warned Harvard about additional enforcement actions from the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights unless the university provides more documents related to its admissions policies.
The Trump administration’s targeting of Harvard is the most prominent part of its broad assault on higher education this year, rooted in conservative concerns over diversity practices and the handling of campus antisemitism. The pressure campaign has plunged campuses into financial and political crises as the government cuts research grants, opens investigations and demands steep settlement payments. Some colleges, including Columbia University, have negotiated deals with the Trump administration.
Harvard has privately considered a settlement, but has so far resisted government pressure. A Harvard spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Education Department opened its investigation into Harvard’s admissions policies in May, and the university has provided a trove of documents. But the administration has maintained that Harvard has refused to provide individualized and anonymized data for each student — such as race, ethnicity, gender, standardized test scores and grade point average — that the government says will show whether the university is discriminating against white and Asian students.
The aggressive actions from the Trump administration come as negotiations between Harvard and the White House have stalled over a landmark settlement that would restore the university’s research funding and resolve the multitude of federal investigations aimed at addressing a perceived liberal bias on campus.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based university has challenged the administration in court and resisted the White House’s push to include an independent monitor to ensure compliance with any agreement. The administration views a monitor as a way to strengthen the current framework of a deal that some on Mr. Trump’s team view as too favorable to Harvard. University negotiators have consistently opposed the idea of a monitor.
Harvard and the White House engaged in a steady back-and-forth earlier this year over how to resolve the administration’s concerns about antisemitism on campus, the legality of the college’s admissions polices and additional issues raised by more than a dozen separate federal investigations opened since February.
Still, the government has continued to ramp up the pressure. The State Department demanded a trove of detailed records about the university’s international students in July. In August, the Commerce Department opened a new investigation into Harvard’s patents.
Now, the Federal Student Aid office is raising questions about the university’s financial stability by pointing to risks presented by the flurry of federal investigations aimed at Harvard.
The letter from the student aid office also said Harvard’s sale of $750 million in bonds in April, layoffs of staff over the summer and a salary freeze initiated this year “call into question the ability of Harvard to meet its financial responsibility obligations.”
Michael C. Bender is a Times correspondent in Washington.
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