Justice Department Reviews Harvard China-Funded Aid Programs for Compliance with Nondiscrimination Rules

The Justice Department announced Monday it is investigating whether Harvard University allows Chinese donors to create scholarships that exclude American students. The review targets Harvard’s China-based financial aid programs. Justice Department officials said Chinese donors have given money to support financial aid programs limited to students from certain countries.

The agency stated that Harvard appears to be accepting these funds and providing student financial aid to foreign students, presumably Chinese, based on their national origin. Officials emphasized they have not reached any conclusions. Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said schools cannot take federal dollars and then accept money from foreign sources to give financial aid that deliberately excludes American citizens.

The investigation is a compliance review initiated by the federal government rather than in response to an outside complaint. Harvard said it was reviewing the Justice Department notice. The university stated it follows the law for required reporting of donations and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin in allocating financial aid.

Federal disclosures show Harvard has accepted $630 million from Chinese sources over a period of decades and has reported about $4.5 billion in foreign funding overall. In 2014, Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin donated $15 million to Harvard to provide financial aid for Chinese students.

Liu Chang, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said China-U.S. Education cooperation is mutually beneficial and that normal education and academic exchange should not be disrupted for political purposes.