The Department of Justice opened an investigation Monday into whether Harvard violated federal civil rights law by using gifts from China-based sources to fund financial aid programs that favor foreign students.
The department’s Civil Rights Division said it began the compliance review after auditing Harvard’s foreign-funding disclosures, which show that the University has received more than $630 million from sources based in China. The department also said it found evidence that some gifts and contracts require Harvard to establish or support financial aid programs “with preference given to students from particular countries.”
Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the division, wrote in a notice letter to Harvard that the University “appears to be accepting these funds with restrictions and conditions from China-based sources and then providing this student financial aid with preference to foreign students based on their national origin, presumably Chinese.”
Read more from The Harvard Crimson.
