Harvard University will be borrowing $750 million from Wall Street after the Trump administration placed $8.7 billion in federal funds under review while it investigates the university’s response to alleged antisemitism on campus.
The Department of Education (ED) announced on March 31 that Harvard was in danger of losing its federal funding and came back with a list of demands for the school to retain its taxpayer dollars, including reforming and enforcing its disciplinary process for disruptive antisemitic protesters. A Harvard spokesman confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that it plans to “issue up to $750 million of taxable bonds for ‘general corporate purposes.’”
“As part of ongoing contingency planning for a range of financial circumstances, Harvard is evaluating resources needed to advance its academic and research priorities,” the university spokesman told the DCNF.
Harvard had $7.1 billion in debt outstanding in 2024 and is anticipated to grow the number to $8.2 billion following the bond issuance, the DCNF was informed.
The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, made up of ED, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the General Services Administration (GSA), began their review of Harvard’s federal funds after a September investigation conducted by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce found that “Harvard failed” to discipline students who engaged in antisemitic protests on campus. The protests included disrupting classes, occupying a campus building and forming a multi-day encampment.
“Harvard has served as a symbol of the American Dream for generations – the pinnacle aspiration for students all over the world to work hard and earn admission to the storied institution,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a press release announcing the review. “Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination – all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry – has put its reputation in serious jeopardy. Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus.”
Harvard said on March 10 that it was putting a pause on all hiring due to the Trump administration cutting federal indirect research funding to schools. Days later, the school announced it would be offering free tuition to all students whose families make less than $200,000 per year.
Harvard rakes in approximately $1.4 billion annually from student costs, according to 2024 financial records, and has an endowment of over $53 billion.
The task force has already revoked funding from Columbia University for similarly failing to address antisemitic incidents and protect Jewish students, after which the university entered a preliminary agreement with the task force. The Trump administration has also frozen approximately $210 million in funding to Princeton University after claiming that it too failed to address antisemitism on campus.
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