Trump administration launches probe of Harvard's $9 billion in federal aid on grounds of antisemitism

File photo shows the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge

The Trump administration has begun a broad examination of almost $9 billion in federal aid to Harvard University, escalating its drive against what it deems is the failure of elite institutions to confront antisemitism on campus. The probe, following such action against Columbia University last month, marks an expanding crackdown potentially redefining the relationship between the federal government and American colleges and universities, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Harvard is joined by Columbia in federal sights

The government is auditing $255.6 million worth of active federal contracts and $8.7 billion in multiyear grants Harvard and its subsidiaries, including some Boston-area hospitals, have received. No funds have been taken back yet, but officials indicate that might come next if Harvard does not comply with government requirements for handling antisemitism.

This administration has shown that we will act with speed to hold institutions accountable if they permit antisemitism to take root," said Josh Gruenbaum, a General Services Administration official and member of the newly created federal antisemitism task force.

Last week, the federal government withheld $400 million in funding to Columbia University because of similar complaints, and only offered to renegotiate after Columbia made broad concessions. On Friday, Columbia's interim president resigned after leaked remarks seemed to diminish the university's record of adhering to the Trump administration's demands.

Protests ignite funding battles and federal enforcement

The move comes after a tide of pro-Palestinian demonstrations swept college campuses nationwide last year in the wake of the Gaza conflict. Harvard was among 60 schools that were warned by the US Department of Education regarding possible enforcement if they did not do enough to protect Jewish students.

The government has connected its assessment of the financing of universities with the demonstrations, criticising certain establishments as permitting ideological bigotry and hate speech. "We will not shy away from doing what must be done" if Harvard doesn't take such actions, said Gruenbaum.

President Trump has made his battle against what he terms "left-wing ideology" on campus a unifying refrain of his second term. His administration has already held up $175 million in funding for the University of Pennsylvania for allowing a transgender player to compete on its women's swim team.

Colleges dread wider campaign against academic freedom

The review has spooked academic leaders across the country. They fear that the administration's requirements have the potential to endanger free inquiry and subvert the fundamental mission of research universities. "Without the ability to pursue their intellectual

curiosity," a private administrator noted, "the discoveries and innovations that power the U.S. economy will stagnate.

Harvard President Alan Garber weighed in Monday on the crisis in a letter to the Harvard community, threatening that the loss of federal funding would put at risk essential medical and scientific research. "We wholeheartedly welcome the noble mission of fighting antisemitism," Garber said. "Immediacy and abiding determination are required to confront this grievous issue that is increasing throughout America and across the globe."

Federal leverage reshapes higher education priorities

Nearly all of America's colleges and universities, public and private, rely on federal funding, particularly for research grants and student aid. The National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Energy, and the US Defense Department send grants and contracts that support labs, professorial salaries, and graduate student appointments numbering in the thousands.

With billions potentially hanging in the balance, schools are already getting tentative. Some have imposed hiring freezes, while others have withdrawn graduate admissions in anticipation of funding gaps.

What started out as a reaction to campus demonstrations is increasingly becoming a high-stakes struggle about the future of American higher education. And with federal funds now directly linked to political agendas, the impact on academic autonomy could be revolutionary.