Recent reporting on Harvard’s settlement talks with the federal government has focused on whether the University will agree to a third-party monitor. But as we told The Boston Globe this week, the government doesn’t necessarily need a formal monitor to oversee Harvard’s progress. It has other civil rights enforcement tools, such as the built-in monitoring that accompanies standard federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) resolutions we’ve written about before.
On Friday, the Department of Education (ED) put more of those tools to use, announcing two new enforcement actions:
First, ED’s OCR alleged that Harvard has not provided all necessary admissions data as part of a Title VI investigation into whether the University continues to consider race in violation of Title VI and the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling. The notification letter gave Harvard 20 days to comply or face “further enforcement action,” which could include suspending federal student financial aid (such as Pell Grants and federal loans). In FY2024, Harvard students received $118 million in such aid.
Second, ED placed Harvard on “heightened cash monitoring” (HCM), citing concerns about the school’s ability “to meet its financial responsibility obligations under the Higher Education Act of 1965.” Under HCM, the University must pay federal student aid from its own funds before seeking reimbursement from the government and must post a $36 million letter of credit, equivalent to 30% of the Title IV financial aid funds it received last year, as collateral. ED cited three “triggering events”: Harvard’s antisemitism-related Title VI violation, the denial-of-access action above, and the University’s recent $1.2 billion bond issuances.
ED placed Harvard on HCM1, the less severe of two oversight tiers. HCM1 is not unheard of: about 7% of ~6,000 Title IV-participating schools are on it. Once on HCM, a school must submit two years of audited financials before ED will consider lifting the designation. In rare cases, ED may escalate a school to HCM2, a more serious status that can lead to loss of federal aid eligibility (as it did with ITT Tech and Charlotte School of Law, both of which shut down).
In evaluating Harvard’s future HCM status, ED may consider “whether the administrative or financial risk caused by the event has ceased or been resolved” and can require additional reporting on finances, lawsuits, and investigations, or compliance issues. Harvard may submit evidence of improvement, including on the “triggering” Title VI concerns, but ED has the broad discretion to determine if, or when, oversight ends.
That discretion makes HCM a quiet but potentially powerful enforcement tool. It may not carry the label of a formal monitor, but it gives the federal government a foothold for escalating oversight in certain areas — whether or not Harvard agrees to a formal settlement.
Ask 1636
Each week, we answer a reader question about Harvard and higher education. Send your questions our way!
Q: Is the FIRE sample representative of Harvard’s student body?
1636’s Take: FIRE’s results are likely more pessimistic than if the survey had captured the full student body, but they are not out of step with other Harvard-administered undergraduate-only surveys.
Looking at last year, FIRE’s findings (~30-40% comfort expressing controversial views in and out of the classroom) tracked closely with the undergraduate slice of Harvard’s own Antisemitism & Islamophobia Task Force survey. By contrast, broader all-student (undergraduates + graduate) surveys from the same year (Pulse and Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue) showed higher comfort levels (~55-70%). That gap likely reflects a mix of question wording, sample size, and undergrad-only vs. all-student populations — effects we can’t fully disentangle. Regardless, FIRE’s numbers do not appear to be total outliers.
As with other opt-in surveys, FIRE’s results still likely overrepresent those with the strongest views in either direction. As we wrote in our analysis of the Antisemitism & Islamophobia Task Force reports, these surveys are best read as snapshots: they capture real and serious student experiences but may amplify the voices of the most engaged.
Events
Cambridge, MA — September 25 from 12-1 p.m. ET: The HKS Middle East Initiative (MEI) hosts “Can We Talk About Israel & Palestine?” with Simon Greer, who co-developed and co-taught a Spring 2025 semester-long course at UNC-Chapel Hill, “Courageous Conversations: Israel and Palestine on Campus,” to build skills for navigating the “conflict about the conflict.” Register here.
Cambridge, MA — September 25: MIT Free Speech Alliance’s third annual conference features keynote speaker Jonathan Rauch, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and contributing editor to The Atlantic. Register for free here.
Dallas, TX — September 25 from 7-9 p.m. CT: Provost John Manning will join a conversation moderated by Harvard Overseer Juan Antonio Sepúlveda Jr. (AB ’85) and hosted by the Harvard Club of Dallas and Harvard Alumni Association. Register here.
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FYIs
Harvard Receives $46 Million in Restored Federal Research Funds
Harvard has received $46 million of previously lost federal research grants, the first large-scale disbursement since Judge Allison Burroughs struck down the federal government’s funding freeze earlier this month.
The disbursements came from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and covered about 200 of the University’s more than 1,500 active NIH grants. NIH is Harvard’s largest federal funder and awarded the University $488 million in FY2024 — more than 70% of its federal research funding.
Last week, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the government is not seeking a prolonged legal fight with Harvard, and while the government is “still in the throes of negotiating,” she was “hopeful” about a settlement. On a possible appeal, she added, “[Harvard] won the first round . . . I think we have a really good case against Harvard.”
Harvard Medical School to Cut 20% of Research Spending; Announces $30M Gift from K. Lisa Yang
Harvard Medical School (HMS) Dean George Daley (AB ’82) announced that HMS will cut its research spending by 20% by the end of the fiscal year, following instructions from Harvard’s central administration. In Fiscal Year 2024, federal funds made up 73% of HMS research funding and nearly one-third of its operating revenue.
HMS had budget issues long before federal funding was revoked, running deficits in nine of ten years between 2008 and 2018 and posting operating losses of $28 million and $27 million in FY2023 and FY2024, respectively.
In his State of the School address, Daley called the reductions “responsible,” citing financial “dark clouds” ahead: potential National Institutes of Health (NIH) caps on indirect grant cost reimbursements (a 15% cap was unsuccessfully attempted this spring) and the newly enacted 8% federal endowment tax, which he warned would further cut HMS revenue.
Daley also announced a $30 million gift from philanthropist K. Lisa Yang to establish a Brain-Body Center at HMS. The center will link researchers in neurobiology, sleep, immunity, and pain with a sister center at MIT, supporting “high-risk, high-reward” projects and providing funding for young scientists.
Black Enrollment at Harvard Law Rebounds to Pre-Affirmative Action Ruling Levels
Harvard Law School (HLS) enrolled more Black students in the Class of 2028 than last year, reversing a decline in Black enrollment following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on race-based affirmative action.
Bloomberg reports that the number of Black first-years returned to the 2020-2023 average of 46 students per class, after falling to just 19 (3.4%) in 2024. The increase reflects intensified outreach by the Harvard Black Law Students Association and alumni. HLS does not operate a race-specific recruitment program.
Former President Claudine Gay Criticizes Harvard’s ‘Compliance’ With Federal Government
In a Q&A session at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study, former Harvard president Claudine Gay said Harvard’s current “posture” toward the federal government “seems to be one of compliance.” She urged Harvard not to accept a reported $500 million proposed settlement, calling the figure “arbitrary” and unjustified.
Gay also warned that Harvard’s “elimination of programs, offices, and activities” once viewed as “institutional imperatives” was “disorienting” and damaging to trust. In recent months, Harvard has consolidated the College’s women’s center, BGLTQ office, and Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
These were Gay’s first substantive public comments since resigning in January 2024 following her response and congressional testimony on campus antisemitism, as well as her plagiarism allegations. It is unclear whether Gay knew her remarks were on the record.
White House Imposes $100K Fee on H-1B Visas; Harvard Could Owe $10M+ Annually
President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a $100,000 application fee on each new H-1B visa petition, citing “systemic abuse” of the program and harm to American workers.
From 2017-2024, Harvard averaged 125 new H-1B petitions annually. At that pace, the new rule could cost the University more than $10 million per year. Harvard typically sponsors postdocs, research fellows, and faculty on H-1Bs, but not staff positions.
DHS clarified Saturday the fee applies only to new applicants (not renewals), and that existing visa holders will retain their current privileges. Still, Harvard’s International Office urged affiliates to consult before traveling abroad, warning in an email to H-1B visa holders that the order’s scope “remains fluid.”
Beyond Harvard, analysts warn the “consequences will be devastating for US higher education.” Nearly 40% of U.S. science and engineering graduate students and more than half of postdocs are international, so the added cost could slow research, shrink STEM programs, and strain teaching hospitals that rely on foreign-born medical residents.
Harvard Plans To Fill Three Tenured Faculty Positions in Jewish Studies
Harvard is “on track” to fill its three vacant tenured faculty positions in Jewish Studies. The University has ten total endowed professorships in the field; currently, three are vacant and two others are being filled by assistant professors.
According to Professor Derek Penslar, director of Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies, failing to fill these roles could leave Harvard with no central Jewish Studies faculty within five years.
The move follows recommendations from Harvard’s Antisemitism Task Force, which urged the University to prioritize hiring for these roles.
So far, Harvard has extended an offer to a current visiting professor for the Jacob E. Safra Professor of Jewish History and Sephardic Civilization. Searches for the two other positions are ongoing. Because the hires are funded by endowed chairs, the roles are exempt from the University’s hiring freeze.
Harvard also recently hired Ido Ben Harush as a College Fellow in Modern Jewish Thought and Shaul Magid as a Divinity School non-tenured professor in residence (Magid’s appointment drew criticism over his public stance as a “counter-Zionist”). Still, Penslar emphasized that there “is no substitute” for tenured roles to sustain Jewish Studies at Harvard long-term.
More News
More News at Harvard:
Harvard Kennedy School: “Middle East Dialogues: A Conversation with Alan Dershowitz” — recording of event with HKS professor Tarek Masoud and HLS professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz as part of Masoud’s Middle East Dialogues series
The Crimson: “Former HLS Prof. Alan Dershowitz Says He Will Urge Peace in Gaza War at IOP Forum”
Harvard Gazette: “Deming brings a researcher’s perspective to student-facing leadership role” — conversation with Harvard College Dean David Deming (PhD ‘10)
The Crimson: “Before Leading Harvard College, David Deming Had a Lot to Say About Its Admissions Policies”
The Crimson: “What Happened to Harvard Business School’s $25 Million Racial Equity Plan? The School Won’t Say.”
Jewish Journal: “Ruderman Family Foundation launches TeleHealth program”
Nature: “2025 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in Nature & Science” — feat. Harvard as the only U.S. institution in the top ten institutions by contributions to leading scientific journals
The Crimson: “Harvard Professors Debate Future of Education in Age of AI at HGSE Forum”
The Crimson: “Embrace AI or Go Analog? Harvard Faculty Adapt to a New Normal”
The Crimson: “Arts and Humanities Division Launches Public Culture Project to Promote the Humanities in Public Life”
The Free Press: “Bury the ‘Words Are Violence’ Cliché” — by FIRE president Greg Lukianoff
The Crimson: “Harvard’s Finance Fever Needs an Ethics Check” — op-ed by Luke O’Brien (AB ‘27)
The Crimson: “Now More Than Ever, It’s Time to Solve Harvard’s Administrative Problem” — op-ed by Elizabeth Place (AB ’27)
The Crimson: “You Can’t Admit Talent You Don’t Reach” — editorial by The Crimson Editorial Board
The Crimson: “The AI Threat to Liberal Arts Is More Fundamental Than You Think” — op-ed by Isaac Mansell (AB ‘26)
The Crimson: “Harvard Exists for One Reason and One Reason Only” — op-ed by Benjamin Isaac (AB ‘27)
More News Beyond Harvard:
Yale Daily News: “Yale considering reduction in graduate student enrollment, professors say”
Brandeis Center: “New Victim Comes Forward in Existing Anti-Semitism Lawsuit Against MIT”
The Dartmouth: “Swastika drawn on floor outside Jewish student’s dorm room”
Dartmouth Office of the President: “Condemning antisemitic vandalism in a residence hall”
The Daily Princetonian: “Princeton police step up town Jewish Center patrols after repeated graffiti around town”
Yale Daily News: “Yale’s endowment spending rate to remain stable despite tax hike”
JNS: “Fake wanted posters for Jewish California regents found at Berkeley campus”
Daily Pennsylvanian: “Penn Med partners with American Univ. in Dubai to launch ‘first-of-its-kind’ medical school in UAE”
Brown Daily Herald: “SJP reinstated as a student group, on probation following external investigation”
Emory University: “Emory will be tuition-free for students whose families earn $200,000 or less”
Bloomberg: “For Top US Business Schools, Local Challenges Could Bring Global Solutions”
Financial Times: “US campuses seek a safe space for debate after Charlie Kirk’s murder”
WBEZ: “Two years into Gaza war, Jewish college students speak out about hostility on campus”
RealClearEducation: “The Kirk Assassination and the Breakdown of Civil Discourse” — by Jed Atkins, dean of the School of Civic Life and Leadership at UNC Chapel Hill
Chronicle of Higher Education: “The Path Forward After Political Murder” — by Constructive Dialogue Institute co-founders NYU professor Jonathan Haidt and Caroline Mehl
Jewish Journal: “Living in an Upside-Down World” — by Harvard psychology associate Pamela Paresky
Washington Monthly: “The College Board Capitulates to Trump” — op-ed by Richard Kahlenberg (AB ‘85, JD ‘89)
New York Times: “Now Is the Time for Colleges to Host Difficult Speakers” — op-ed by Barnard President Laura Ann Rosenbury (AB ‘92, JD ‘97), which received campus backlash as detailed in The Columbia Spectator’s article “Rosenbury op-ed on Charlie Kirk and ‘difficult speakers’ sparks backlash from students, faculty”