Education Secretary Linda McMahon Blasts Harvard, Tells The Once Elite University It Will No Longer Get Federal Grants

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has just announced “Harvard should no longer seek grants from the federal government, since none will be provided.”

All federal grants to Harvard will cease.

“Harvard should no longer seek grants from the federal government, since none will be provided.

Receiving taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right”

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent a scathing letter to Harvard University President Alan Garber on Monday, not only blasting the Massachusetts Ivy League school’s handling of antisemitism on campus but also advising school officials to refrain from applying for future federal grants because they will not “be provided.”

In her no-holds-barred letter, McMahon told Garber that the federal government has a “sacred responsibility” to be an important steward of American taxpayer funds, adding that the school has amassed a largely tax-free $53.2 billion endowment and receives billions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year.

“Receiving such taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right,” she wrote. “Yet instead of using these funds to advance the education of its students, Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law. Where do many of these ‘students’ come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into our country – and why is there so much HATE? These are questions that must be answered, among many more, but the biggest question of all is, why will Harvard not give straightforward answers to the American public?”

Bill Ackman on Harvard: the university should have negotiated with the government instead of suing; it should act as a fiduciary with respect to the taxpayers; its problems are real and it should fix them; and it deserves to lose its tax exemption.

Harvard’s endowment is sitting at over 50 billion dollars.

It is completely tax-free.

Why are U.S. taxpayers subsidizing this insanity?

Harvard should no longer seek grants from the federal government, since none will be provided.

Receiving taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right. pic.twitter.com/vE3va3Saw4

— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) May 6, 2025

The money should instead be allocated to the hundreds of excellent universities in this country that don’t have $54 billion.

Dear @Harvard: pic.twitter.com/XmMimXfkX0

— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) May 5, 2025

VICTORY!

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has just announced "Harvard should no longer seek grants from the federal government, since none will be provided."

All federal grants to Harvard will cease!

The money should instead be allocated to the hundreds of excellent… pic.twitter.com/YGzI8LHMUN

— Shabbos Kestenbaum (@ShabbosK) May 5, 2025

David Chavous

Why are Harvard and Yale in financial difficulties due to federal funding cuts when they have over $90 billion in endowments?

Well, I did a dive and you’ll realize that you can’t hate higher education enough.

Schools have built huge endowments by investing money into 2 assets – real estate and private equity. These assets comprise 83% of Harvard’s endowment. They are however illiquid. PE in particular is hard to value and has a lot of restrictions.

But when these assets take off, they create huge value.

Got that? These assets enrich the university but can’t be used to pay for things like students and research and teaching on year to year basis.

Well, what pays for the stuff universities are supposed to do?

Federal money. Your money. That is the liquid asset. So, universities built a scam. Take federal money to pay for their business operations and invest in illiquid assets to enrich themselves.

The real estate is particularly pernicious because schools could gobble up land.

That gobbling has helped make them rich at the expense of middle class people bordering these institutions. Allston, a part of Boston, has watched as Harvard has bought massive swaths of land. This has helped real estate values skyrocket in Allston.

The reason why Harvard, Yale, and other elite schools are freaking out about funding cuts is because they built an entire grift on the belief that YOUR money would always be there.

They aren’t a public good anymore. They are big businesses funded by you without your consent.