Harvard Set to Lose All Federal Contracts

Bloomberg

27-05-2025

00:00
So this would be another $100 million worth that the Trump administration will be taking away. Is it doable? It would just compound the financial attacks that the Trump administration has already opened on Harvard. They have already frozen more than $2.6 billion of funding that primarily went to research. They have threatened to Harvard's tax exempt status. They have moved to block the school from enrolling international students. So it's really a multipronged attack on Harvard's financial well-being. And in fact, more on that political reporting just in the last hour or so that the U.S. is ordering a halt to student visa interviews. You reportedly pending a decision on whether or not it wants to vet social media. So the Trump administration clearly not too worried about Mark Zuckerberg or any of these people that are running these social media sites. If that's the route, it's going down to try and fight Harvard in the courts. But what is Harvard doing to defend itself, just not just on the international students side of things, but on these federal grounds? Is there anything you can do to fight this action? Sure. And just a point about, you know, the companies that many companies look to, that talent pool that comes out of Harvard and many other universities across the U.S., which do rely on international students to help develop that next generation of workers for the U.S.. And so, you know, I think a number of companies have a vested interest in continuing to see international students come to the U.S. and learn here at these institutions. Now, in terms of what Harvard is doing, they have now filed two different lawsuits against the Trump administration, one challenging those funding freezes that we talked about, arguing that it is a situation of government overreach, where the Trump administration is looking to assert more control over how Harvard manages its academic student campus disciplinary processes. And then the other suit involves the step to block international student enrollment. Now, it does have $53 billion in assets. Can Harvard wait this out, assuming there is an end to this onslaught at some point? And is it getting support from other universities? Sure. I mean, I think that $53 billion endowment, while it is important, is somewhat of a misnomer because it's not just this giant pile of money that Harvard has sitting around that it can draw from to plug these spending gaps. There are parameters on much of that money, some of it coming from the donors that provided the money in the first place that want to see those funds go to endow specific scholarships or support particular schools, whatever it might be. The money is also locked up in longer term investments. So Harvard can't just use it like an ATM. But it is you know, Harvard is the richest US university, which does give it more of a buffer to fight back against these actions. And I think that's part of the reason why you're seeing the school take this stand that, you know, if Harvard weren't to push back on some of these demands from the Trump administration, it would make it harder for smaller schools who are not as robustly funded to fight back.