The US Justice Department announced on July 20, 2026, it has launched a civil rights compliance review of Harvard University to investigate whether some of its China-based financial aid programs discriminate against American citizens by excluding them based on national origin [1, 2, 3, 4]. The investigation focuses on nearly $4.5 billion in foreign donations Harvard received between 1986 and 2026, including over $630 million coming from China, some of which may be restricted to scholarships awarded only to Chinese international students [2, 3, 4, 5].
The Justice Department alleges Harvard appears to provide financial aid funded by China-based donors solely to foreign students, which presumably disadvantages American students and violates Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act [2, 3, 4, 5]. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said, "Schools cannot take federal dollars and then turn around and accept money from foreign sources to give financial aid that deliberately excludes American citizens" [2]. Dhillon warned, "The school cannot accept federal funding and then use foreign donations to deliberately exclude American students from financial aid — this is illegal and we will stop any such practice" [5].
Harvard University denied any discriminatory policies regarding race, ethnicity, or national origin in awarding financial aid. A spokesperson said, "Harvard does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin in allocating financial aid" and added the university is reviewing the Justice Department’s request and will engage with the government [1, 2, 3].
Some restricted donations come from Chinese donors such as SOHO China co-founders Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin, who gave $15 million in 2014 specifically supporting scholarships for Chinese students at Harvard. The donations have drawn criticism in China [5, 6]. Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Chang stated, "China believes normal educational and academic exchange should not be disrupted for political purposes" [5].
The DOJ has not reached any conclusions yet on whether Harvard violated federal law and stressed this is a government-initiated compliance review, not prompted by an external complaint [2, 5, 7]. The department set a deadline of July 31, 2026, for Harvard to provide documents related to China-linked donations as part of the investigation. Non-compliance could result in enforcement actions including suspension of federal funding [2, 4].
The probe continues a broader Trump administration campaign targeting Harvard and other universities on issues including foreign influence, admissions, and alleged political bias [1, 2, 8]. The Justice Department emphasized that "Every American student should have an equal opportunity to compete for college scholarships, grants, and other kinds of financial aid and benefits," according to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon [9].
