Yesterday President Trump said that Harvard should return the funds it requested from the stimulus paycheck program for small businesses, given the huge endowment it receives:
Harvard should give back the money now. Their whole “endowment” system should be looked at!
Harvard should give back the money now. Their whole “endowment” system should be looked at! https://t.co/LcjOcsnCWT
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020
This morning Harvard said that they never requested the money, that it didn’t come from the small business loan program, but rather was offered to them through the higher education grants in the CARES Act and they were going to use it to aid students who were having difficulty because of the coronavirus:
FOX NEWS – A Harvard spokesman noted that the nearly $9 million in taxpayer aid it claimed did not come from the PPP program but rather from the CARES Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, which helped many universities and colleges.
“Harvard did not apply for, nor has it received any funds through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses,” Harvard spokesman Jason Newton said in a statement late Tuesday. “Reports saying otherwise are inaccurate. President Trump is right that it would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses.”
Newton added that “like most colleges and universities, Harvard has been allocated funds as part of the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.”
The fund includes $14 billion in aid for universities. The law allocated the funds to all colleges that participate in federal student aid programs, through a funding formula based on the number of students at an institution receiving federal financial aid through Pell Grants and on the overall institutional student enrollment, according to Harvard.
“Harvard has committed that 100 percent of these emergency higher education funds will be used to provide direct assistance to students facing urgent financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Newton said.
Well now, hours later, Harvard has decided that it won’t even receive these funds because of the added scrutiny:
1/5 Harvard will not accept funds from the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. Like most colleges & universities, Harvard has been allocated funds as part of the CARES Act. Harvard did not apply for this support, nor has it requested, received or accessed the funds
— Harvard University (@Harvard) April 22, 2020
2/5 We are concerned that intense focus by politicians & others on Harvard in connection with the program may undermine participation in a relief effort Congress created & the president signed into law for the purpose of helping those whose financial challenges may be most severe
— Harvard University (@Harvard) April 22, 2020
3/5 As a result of this, and the evolving guidance being issued around use of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, Harvard has decided not to seek or accept the funds allocated to it by statute.
— Harvard University (@Harvard) April 22, 2020
4/5 We will inform the DOE of our decision and encourage the department to act swiftly to reallocate those resources. We hope that special consideration will be given to MA institutions that are struggling to serve their communities and meet the needs of their students.
— Harvard University (@Harvard) April 22, 2020
Honestly I can’t blame Harvard for being upset at Trump and others for calling them out when they never took funds from the small business program, but rather was offered the money legitimately through the higher education portion of the stimulus package. I don’t know how the confusion began but it ends up with Harvard looking like the bad guy and thus deciding not to accept the funds they were going to use to help students.