WASHINGTON: The US State Department has launched an investigation into Harvard University’s participation in the federal exchange visitor programme, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday (Jul 23), as the Trump administration intensifies scrutiny of the prestigious institution.
“To maintain their privilege to sponsor exchange visitors, sponsors must comply with all regulations, including conducting their programmes in a manner that does not undermine the foreign policy objectives or compromise the national security interests of the United States,” Rubio said in a statement.
He added that the investigation would ensure State Department programmes “do not run contrary to our nation’s interests”.
The probe marks the latest step in the Trump administration’s broader campaign to leverage federal authority over US universities, which President Donald Trump has accused of harbouring antisemitic and “radical left” ideologies.
Among its earlier actions, the administration cancelled hundreds of research grants at Harvard, citing the university’s failure to adequately protect Jewish students from harassment. Officials have also sought to bar international students from attending the university, threatened its accreditation, and suggested it may have violated federal civil rights law, moves that could cut off additional federal funding.
Separately on Wednesday, the Department of Education said it had opened investigations into five other universities: the University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Miami, the University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University.
The investigations aim to determine whether the schools unlawfully restricted scholarships to undocumented students or recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.
The actions come amid a renewed push by the Trump administration to advance its hardline immigration agenda.
