BURSTThe Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating Harvard University’s admissions policies to ensure the measures comply with the 2023 Supreme Court affirmative action ruling, according to the university, in the latest investigation after Harvard defied the Trump administration.
“This investigation is yet another abusive and retaliatory action — the latest of many — that the administration has initiated against Harvard since the University was forced to defend itself from harmful overreach against higher education, including the freeze and termination of millions of dollars in funding for medical and scientific research, which will lead to devastating consequences for our nation’s health, economic prosperity, and scientific leadership,” a spokesperson for Harvard said in a statement.
The DOJ sent a letter, first reported by The New York Times, to Harvard on Monday informing the university of the investigation.
The investigation will take place under the False Claims Act and investigate if the school’s admission process has defrauded the government.
The False Claims Act is rarely used against universities and could cost Harvard hundreds of millions of dollars if found liable.
The DOJ also wants a school official to testify under oath on Harvard’s admission policies, according to the Times.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that affirmative action could no longer be used in university admissions, although Republicans have been skeptical schools have followed the ruling.
“Harvard continues to comply with the law under the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) decision. As the named defendant in SFFA v. Harvard, no institution has faced greater scrutiny than Harvard on changes made to its admissions policies and practices since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June 2023,” a Harvard spokesperson said.
“Those changes began immediately following the decision and have been widely shared and reported on,” the spokesperson added.
Changes Harvard has made included new training for application reviewers, giving reviewers no access to race or ethnicity data about an applicant and changing essay questions from identity-based to experiential.
The investigation is just the latest in a series of actions the Trump administration has taken against Harvard due to its unwillingness to change its hiring or admissions practices that include pausing billions in funding, threatening to revoke tax-exempt status and blocking access to new research grants.