President Trump’s swift response to Harvard’s rejection of federal criteria sparks national debate over university funding

Just hours after Harvard University refused to comply with government-mandated leadership and policy changes, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that federal funding would be frozen and threatened to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status.

"If this funding is stopped, it will halt life-saving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation," Alan Garber, the president of Harvard, protested in a statement on Monday, responding to the administration’s letter. “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” he asserted.

However, Trump, evidently unmoved, announced on Tuesday that he was considering stripping Harvard of its tax-exempt status and freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants, along with $60 million in contracts.

The U.S. leader posted on his Truth Social platform that Harvard “should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity,” insisting that the tax-exempt status is “totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST.”

Moreover, Trump informed the press on Tuesday that he is aware that the university has an endowment of more than $50 billion. 

College endowments are a collection of tax-exempt donations (often from alumni) and investments, available to serve the university’s goals. Harvard has the largest such endowment, with $50,748,594,000 at the end of the fiscal year 2023, more than the GDP of countries such as Nicaragua, Iceland and Senegal, according to US News.

However, Reuters reported that the majority of Harvard’s hefty endowment is allocated to specific departments, designated for scholarships or other donor-driven initiatives, and often invested in hard-to-sell assets.

Harvard University lists an annual cost of $86,926 to attend, more than three times the national average. For a four-year degree, students will rack up an eye-watering bill of $347,704. Yet, despite the sky-high tuition fees, Reuters reports that Harvard had $7.1 billion in outstanding debt at the end of its fiscal year in June 2024. On April 7, the university announced plans to issue up to $750 million in taxable bonds for general corporate purposes.

With a proposal made in Congress to increase the tax on net profit in endowments from 1.4% to 21% and enrollment rates in decline, Harvard’s financial future seems more troubled by the moves than many might assume, according to Reuters.

The stand-off has provoked strong reactions both for and against the university’s decision, with some encouraging Harvard to take a stand against the government’s demands – even suggesting that they are illegal – while others are furious that such a rich institution is receiving public funds at all, as seen in multiple reactions to the Forbes video of Trump's address to the press.

The review is “part of the ongoing efforts of the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism,” according to the government statement, seeking to audit programs and departments that “most fuel antisemitic harassment or reflect ideological capture.” 

However, critics claim that the move is an undemocratic means of pushing a political agenda, according to the Times of Israel. Ten Jewish groups have spoken out on the matter.

“We firmly reject the false choice between confronting antisemitism and upholding democracy. Our safety as Jews has always been tied to the rule of law, to the safety of others, to the strength of civil society, and to the protection of rights and liberties for all,” the joint statement said on Tuesday.

Refuting the government’s assertion that the measures were being taken as a means of addressing antisemitism, Garber said that many of the demands present an attempt to regulate the “intellectual conditions” at Harvard rather than deal with the issue of antisemitism.

The Harvard president claimed that the move “risks not only the health and well-being of millions of individuals but also the economic security and vitality of our nation.” Garber also claimed that it violated Harvard's First Amendment rights and exceeded the government’s authority under Title VI, which prohibits discrimination against students based on their race, color or national origin.

Also invoking Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump wanted Harvard to apologize for “antisemitism that took place on their college campus against Jewish American students.”

In a statement on Monday, the federal antisemitism task force said that Harvard’s response “reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws.”

“The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable,” the task force added.