Did Harvard University discriminate against American students in favor of Chinese ones? The Department of Justice wants to know, and they’re opening an investigation into whether the Ivy Leaguer loved Chinese donations more than they loved giving students equal opportunities.
Did they put their thumb on the scale? Harmeet Dhillon has questions:
The department said Monday that Harvard’s foreign-funding disclosures raised concerns that some donors imposed nationality-based restrictions on financial aid. Officials are examining whether those arrangements violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bars federally funded institutions from discriminating based on national origin.
"Every American student should have an equal opportunity to compete for college scholarships, grants, and other kinds of financial aid and benefits," Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement.
Appearing on Newsmax Monday, the AAG broke down the problem:
Federally-funded AMERICAN universities cannot earmark foreign funds for Chinese students! The @CivilRights Division @theJusticeDept is investigating illegal actions Harvard, & potentially other universities, are taking against students on the basis of national origin. pic.twitter.com/N9idhz339j
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) July 21, 2026
There are huge amounts of money flowing, Dhillon said, and Harvard may have gotten addicted to the cash:
There are $630 million of earmarked contributions from Chinese sources to Harvard, and that's in addition to several billion from other countries as well. But they're earmarked for Chinese recipients. Not Chinese-American, not American, but Chinese recipients. And so, that's problematic under Title VI.
So, we've launched an investigation today to see the extent to which there are violations of federal law. Harvard cannot take our federal tax dollars—which, by the way, it has trillions of dollars of outstanding grants, billions a year—and then also discriminate against Americans. All the money that flows into Harvard from foreign sources must be made available to all without regard to national origin.
So, this is going to be an examination at Harvard, and you should stay tuned—there'll be some for some of the other top institutions that are taking this foreign money as well.
The venerated institution has frequently come under fire from the Trump administration over its admissions policies and its overemphasis on “woke.” As our Ben Smith reported, the administration also filed suit in March alleging that Harvard took billions in taxpayer funding while failing to protect Jewish students on its own campus. That litigation is ongoing.
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Harvard sucks in money from China, the DOJ alleges — lots of it.
Federal law requires colleges and universities to report foreign gifts and contracts worth at least $250,000. The DOJ said a Civil Rights Division audit of those disclosures found that Harvard had reported nearly $4.5 billion in foreign funding — more than any other American university — including over $630 million from China, its largest foreign source.
The university provides need-based institutional aid to international students, while federal grants and other government assistance are generally limited to eligible U.S. students. Harvard also uses private scholarship and employment funds to support students from outside the country.
If Harvard is indeed discriminating against American students in favor of Chinese ones, that would be a gross violation of the public trust. The school has taken numerous hits to its once-sterling reputation in recent years, and this could very well turn into yet another one. Harvard’s motto is “Veritas,” the Latin word for “truth.”
When the truth comes out, they might not like it very much.
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