The Trump administration on Monday called for Harvard to be forced to the negotiation table by informing the country's oldest and wealthiest university that it is not eligible for new federal grants.
The decision was reported in a controversial letter to Harvard President Alan M. Gerber by Education Secretary Linda McMahon that “blown up the school due to a tragic mismanagement.”
“This letter informs Harvard University that it should not seek federal grants.
It was the first important response from the administration as Harvard University appealed to challenge the government's decision to cut research funds by billions of dollars after the university ignored its demand for intrusive surveillance.
An education department official who explained to reporters before it was released said that eligibility for Harvard research grants depends on the concerns about anti-Semitism on campus, policies that take into account student race, and the ability to first address complaints from the administration that the university abandoned its pursuit of “academic excellence” while hiring relatively conservative members.
Harvard officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Over the past few weeks, the university has adopted a reinforced stance on the administration, aside from that lawsuit. For example, on Friday, President Trump's threat to revoke his university's tax-free status “has no legal basis.”
McMahon's three-page letter unfolded the use of all-capital letters to highlight familiar, dissatisfaction-filled words from Trump and other conservative critics at Harvard. The Missaib said the university “had a laugh at the country's higher education system.” It denounced the university of “ugly racism,” referring to the “humiliating plagiarism scandal,” and denounced the university's leadership.
“In its best, the university must meet the finest ideals of our nation and educate the thousands of hopeful students walking through its grand gates,” McMahon wrote. “But Harvard has betrayed that ideal.”
Beyond the tone of McMahon's letter, Monday's federal threat suggests that the government is changing tactics against elite universities. The first blow to the administration's top schools stripped up existing grants from the university. This is a dramatic step, especially given the rush to cut funds, but it also raised the outlook for the court's challenge.
Harvard has constructed a pending case against the government over both the First Amendment Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. This is a severe limit on how federal agencies work after the government suspends more than $2 billion in funding.
However, university leaders across the country personally fear a more orderly attack on research funding that is harder to contest, although not necessarily impossible. A comprehensive ban on grants to Harvard or certain other schools could still invite lawsuits, but it is a deliberate process that some higher education officials find it more difficult to resist in court.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has led attacks on elite universities in the country that he considers his administration to be hostile to conservatives and intended to perpetuate liberalism.
However, universities in this country are not as big as government as Harvard.
Last month, the Trump administration sent Harvard University a list of requests that included auditing plagiarism audit professors, reporting international students accused of fraud to the federal government, and appointing external supervision to ensure that the academic department is “varied in perspectives.”
The administration said letters containing those requests were sent by mistake, but the fight continues to escalate. Harvard sued the administration and accused the government of trying to wield “unprecedented and inappropriate control.” Dr. Gerber said the consequences of government actions will be “serious and long-lasting.”
Under the system that has been a part of American life since World War II, Harvard, like other top research institutions, relies on federal money to support many of its projects.
In 2024, federally sponsored research dollars accounted for around 11% of Harvard's revenue, or about $687 million. And while Harvard's donations are worth more than $53 billion, much of that money is limited, limiting how the university spends it. The permanent freeze on new grants could unleash financial chaos for Harvard, who already has emergency plans and is trying to raise funds through the bond market.
McMahon mentioned Harvard's wealth in a letter Monday, describing the university's donations as “head start” in an era without federal grants.
Many of the donations told Dr. Gerber, she said, “it was made possible by the fact that you live and benefit from the walls of prosperity secured by the United States and its free market system.”
