DOJ says scholarships may illegally exclude American citizens
The Justice Department on Monday announced a review of Harvard University’s financial aid programs for international students, saying the school’s foreign funding disclosures “raised concerns” about possible discrimination against U.S. students.
The investigation targets Harvard’s “China-based financial aid programs,” the department said. According to the agency, Chinese donors have given money to Harvard to support financial aid programs limited to students from certain countries. That restriction, the department said, could amount to illegal discrimination based on country of origin.
The agency did not specify which scholarship programs are being examined and emphasized that it “has not reached any conclusions.”
Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement: “Schools cannot take federal dollars and then turn around and accept money from foreign sources to give financial aid that deliberately excludes American citizens — doing so is illegal, and we will stop it wherever we find it.”
The investigation is the latest in a series of federal inquiries the Trump administration has opened in its battle against the Ivy League school, according to the Justice Department. Harvard has not publicly commented on the new review.