The US Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether scholarship programs at Harvard University, funded by foreign donations, discriminate against US students. Officials are particularly examining whether programs using Chinese-sourced funds exclude American citizens in violation of federal law.
Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Civil Rights Division, said: "Schools cannot accept foreign sources of money to provide financial aid that deliberately excludes American citizens while taking federal money. Doing so is illegal, and we will stop it wherever we find it."

At the center of the investigation are Harvard's financial aid programs supported by Chinese donors and aimed at students from specific countries. The department is concerned that such conditional funding may lead to illegal discrimination.
Harvard University stated in a statement that it fully complies with donation reporting laws and does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity or national origin. A university spokesperson said: "We do not engage in illegal discrimination in the allocation of financial aid."
Liu Chang, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, emphasized the mutual benefit of China-US educational cooperation in a statement on the matter, saying: "We believe that normal educational and academic exchanges should not be disrupted for political purposes."