Pentagon Orders Harvard to Audit Foreign Academic, Financial Partnerships

Harvard was one of 30 universities ordered on Monday to submit a comprehensive audit of its foreign academic and financial partnerships by the end of the month, according to a U.S. official.

The directive, issued in coordination with several congressional committees, threatens to pull federal research funding if universities do not comply with the order. It also requires universities to end “problematic partnerships” and put in place “strict mitigation plans.”

The Defense Department wrote in a press release that the audit is aimed at protecting government-funded research from exploitation that could compromise national security through “unauthorized technology transfer, intellectual property theft and adversarial exploitation.”

The press release did not name the targeted institutions, but a U.S. official — who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the directive — confirmed to The Crimson that Harvard was among those notified. A Harvard spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether the University would comply with the audit request.

The directive pulls the Pentagon into a sprawling Trump administration effort to scrutinize Harvard’s China ties — an effort that has snowballed in recent weeks to involve several federal agencies and two branches of government.

The notification comes shortly after a sweeping report published by House Republicans last week accused Harvard of compromising national security through its academic collaborations with Chinese entities.

The 55-page report, released after a 15-month investigation by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, slammed the University’s research compliance program for allowing Harvard researchers to collaborate with Chinese universities, particularly those with ties to the defense sector.

The Pentagon echoed those concerns Monday. Undersecretary of Defense Emil Michael said in the announcement that there was “zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security.” Late last month, the department updated a list of 130 academic and research institutions in China, Russia, and Iran that it said were “engaging in problematic activities.”

“Institutions that receive funding from American taxpayers must uphold the highest standards of research security, and these mandated audits will ensure accountability across the board,” Michael said.

The House report also accused Harvard of pushing back against repeated requests for a list of Chinese universities with which the University had collaborated. Harvard ultimately turned over a spreadsheet with 50 entries, the report said.

The Justice Department is separately investigating whether the University violated civil rights law by accepting gifts for financial aid that included regional preferences for students.

That probe asks Harvard to turn over documents linked to what the department has termed “Chinese Restricted Funds” and detailed identifying information about students who received the financial aid. The University said at the time that it would engage with the government on the issues raised.

A Crimson analysis of foreign-funding records found that Harvard disclosed more than $36 million in gifts from sources in China and Hong Kong carrying financial aid preferences tied to students’ countries, nationalities, geographic regions, or international status.

But only about $4 million explicitly preferred Chinese or Hong Kong students; most of the remaining gifts did not identify the country whose students were preferred.

The Pentagon targeted Harvard individually in February when it severed military partnerships with the University, abruptly ending its sponsorship of graduate study for active-duty service members.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth cited Harvard’s foreign entanglements when he announced the move, alleging that “campus research programs have partnered with the Chinese Communist Party.”

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at hcc.35. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at elisespenner.82. Follow her on X @EliseSpenner.