Federal funding for student financial aid won’t be impacted by the change, the agency said.
Trump says he will revoke tax-exempt status for Harvard University
The Trump administration has threatened to freeze $2 billion in federal funding after not agreeing to a list of demands from the administration.
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is cutting off new federal research grants to Harvard University, in yet another escalation of the White House’s attack on one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a letter to Harvard President Alan Garber on May 5 informing him that the federal government would no longer approve any new research grants.
She cited concerns over antisemitic incidents on campus as a basis for refusing to continue providing taxpayer dollars to fund the university’s world-class research.
“This letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided,” McMahon wrote in the letter to Garber, who is Jewish. “Harvard will cease to be a publicly funded institution, and can instead operate as a privately-funded institution, drawing on its colossal endowment, and raising money from its large base of wealthy alumni.”
The change would not end all federal funding to Harvard, however. A senior Education Department official said Monday on a call with reporters that only research funding would be impacted. Federal student financial aid would be unaffected, he said.
After Harvard refused to abide by government demands to overhaul its hiring, teaching and admissions practices, the White House froze more than $2 billion worth of the university’s federal research funding in April. Accusing the Trump administration of encroaching on academic freedom, Harvard’s leadership sued.
“This case involves the Government’s efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decisionmaking at Harvard,” the university said in its lawsuit.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday’s letter.
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.