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Harvard received more than $100 million in donations from government sources in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bangladesh in the last four years, according to data released by the Department of Education.
The University received more than $151 million in total donations from foreign governments between January 2020 and October 2024 — making up more than 13 percent of the total $1.1 billion received from foreign donors over the same period.
In compliance with Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, universities report contracts and gifts from foreign sources larger than $250,000. Harvard is the largest recipient of foreign investment among its Ivy-league peers, receiving nearly $200 million more than the second-highest recipient, Cornell University.
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Philanthropy, including current use gifts and endowment contributions, accounted for 45 percent of the University’s operating revenue in the fiscal year 2024. According to University spokesperson Jason A. Newton, the donations are used to fund Harvard’s financial aid program, in addition to educational and operational expenses.
While total current use gifts to the University increased by nine percent in fiscal year 2024, endowment contributions dropped substantially, resulting in a $151 million decrease in total philanthropic contributions — a 14 percent drop from the previous year.
As top Harvard officials attempted to contain their fundraising crisis, contributions from foreign governmental sources decreased by more than $1 million between October 2022 to 2023 and October 2023 to 2024. Total foreign funding decreased by $67 million.
Harvard has been repeatedly criticized for accepting donations from governments, and universities’ financial ties to Iran and China have been the subject of particular scrutiny.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce revealed in May that top Harvard officials considered investigating foreign donations after former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s Antisemitism Advisory Group raised concerns about the influence of donors from the Middle East.
According to University documents subpoenaed and published by the House Committee, Harvard’s lawyers “identified information about contracts and gift agreements from middle eastern countries,” and concluded that “no issues were identified.”
In January, Rep. Ritchie J. Torres (D-N.Y.) — an outspoken critic of Harvard’s response to antisemitism on campus — introduced a bill to the House to prohibit any U.S. university from receiving gifts from any country that “has provided material support to a foreign terrorist organization, as determined by the Secretary of State.”
The House is also considering a bill by Rep. Michael J. Baumgartner (R-Wash.) that would reduce the Section 117 reporting threshold for donations and fine universities that do not comply.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, the administration launched an investigation into Harvard’s foreign funding sources. An October 2020 report released by the Department of Education as a result of the investigation found that Harvard “appears to possess inadequate institutional controls over its foreign donations and contracts.”
According to a December 2024 letter from the Department of Education, the investigation has been closed.
Out of the 29 governments that donated to Harvard since 2020, government sources in the UAE have consistently given the most, including $14 million in the 12-month period ending in October 2024.
According to the filings, $4 million from Saudi Arabia and $3.8 million from Qatar were also donated in the same period. Harvard received the most non-governmental funding from England, Switzerland, China and Hong Kong.
According to Dan G. Currell, a former deputy under secretary at the Department of Education, Qatar’s donations are especially significant as a proportion of the country’s gross domestic product.
“Qatar has a GDP roughly equivalent to Iowa,” Currell said. “The amounts of money that are being thrown around are not impossible, but I did some calculations back of the envelope. And you’re like, that seems implausible.”
Across Harvard’s largest foreign donor hubs, some countries have contributed the most in the form of contracts, including tuition payments from foreign sources and purchase of University materials. In the last four years, 90 percent of financial contributions from Japan — the University’s fifth largest donor country — have been donated in the form of a contract.
According to Newton, Harvard’s contracts include the purchase of academic materials from university presses and payments for participation in Harvard’s executive education programs for non-degree-seeking students.
Donations from England, Harvard’s largest donor, are greater than any other nation with $179 million since January 2020. More than 70 percent of these funds are individual gifts.
Still, Terry W. Hartle, a senior fellow at the American Council on Education said it is difficult to draw conclusions from the Section 117 data about where individual contributions come from and how foreign funding is used.
“There are a lot of grants and contracts that colleges, universities take or receive from foreign individuals, corporations and governments,” he said. “It is, in essence, a haystack.”
“It probably undercounts — maybe by a lot — the influence of foreign money,” Currell added.
–Staff writer Abigail S. Gerstein can be reached at abigail.gerstein@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @abbysgerstein.
–Staff writer Avi W. Burstein can be reached at avi.burstein@thecrimson.com.
