In its newest try to make Harvard College buckle, the Trump administration simply despatched a letter demanding proof of economic stability and a multimillion-dollar monetary assure from the varsity.
Why the sudden concern about Harvard’s funds? Effectively, you see, the Trump administration is nervous that Harvard is dealing with an elevated danger of economic instability as a result of it’s coping with greater than a dozen investigations … by the Trump administration.
So the Trump workforce first ginned up a complete bunch of clearly pretend causes to withhold cash from Harvard, which it then used as the inspiration for a distinct clearly pretend motive to withhold cash from Harvard.
Secretary of Schooling Linda McMahon
The letter positioned Harvard on Heightened Money Monitoring standing, which requires “Harvard to post an irrevocable letter of credit for $36 million or provide other financial protection that is acceptable” to the Division of Schooling. That’s roughly 30% of all federal monetary help obtained by the varsity within the final yr.
Because it’s now in HCM standing, Harvard might be required to disburse all federal monetary help with its personal funds after which get reimbursed from the federal authorities—as a result of certainly there gained’t be an issue getting this administration to reimburse a college it’s been attacking for months.
The Division of Schooling locations faculties in HCM standing over longstanding issues about issues like misuse of federal monetary help, hazard of closing mid-year, or poor pupil outcomes.
This is smart when there’s a real concern about federal pupil help fraud, corresponding to a college acquiring pupil help for a nonexistent pupil. The monetary assure ensures that faculties don’t stick their money owed on the federal government, and the requirement for faculties to spend their very own cash first ensures that they don’t take help from the federal government after which shut their doorways.
However, in fact, none of that basically applies to Harvard.
Colleges that really belong on HCM standing are far more just like the Schooling Company of America, a big for-profit faculty chain that confronted dozens of complaints from college students alleging fraud, false promoting, and misrepresentation to get them within the door. ECA in the end misplaced its accreditation, filed for receivership, and sued the Division of Schooling.
Solely after that did ECA get positioned on HCM standing in November 2018, at which level it collapsed utterly, closing its doorways on three schools and greater than two dozen campuses in the midst of the 2018-2019 college yr.
In distinction, Harvard has an endowment of $53.2 billion and an annual funds of $6.4 billion. Its founding predates the founding of america by 120 years. And regardless of the Trump administration’s finest makes an attempt, it stays one of the vital sought-after faculties, accepting solely about 3% of candidates.
A cartoon by Clay Bennett.
Harvard isn’t operating out of cash any time quickly, and it’s not going to shut its doorways or attempt to maintain the lights on by illegally diverting federal monetary help.
However wait, says the Trump workforce! Harvard has already admitted that it’s dealing with monetary challenges, issuing greater than $1 billion in bonds.
Sure, these could be the bonds that Harvard needed to situation as a result of the Trump administration has been illegally withholding billions in analysis grants and threatening the varsity with sham investigations. That has certainly made issues financially precarious.
Harvard has been preventing the Trump administration for months now, so it has to maintain developing with new methods to attempt to make the varsity give in, together with threatening to remove its patents,
And it’s arduous to not see that this newest demand for money is a response to final week’s decrease court docket resolution ordering the Trump workforce to unfreeze $2.6 billion in analysis funds. How dare a court docket inform the federal government it has to offer Harvard the cash that was already allotted to Harvard, proper?
Giving the Trump workforce $36 million wouldn’t financially break Harvard, however there’s no negotiating with this administration. The one solution to win is to maintain standing robust.
