The Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that they have notified Harvard’s accreditor, the New England Commission of Higher Education, that the university is in violation of federal civil rights law for failing to address antisemitism on campus. This noncompliance could cost Harvard its accreditation, a nightmare scenario for the Ivy League giant that would throw its prestige, federal funding, and ability to operate into chaos.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that accrediting bodies are responsible for ensuring academic integrity and campus safety, adding that Harvard has failed to protect its Jewish students. “By allowing antisemitic harassment and discrimination to persist unchecked on its campus, Harvard University has failed in its obligation to students, educators, and American taxpayers,” McMahon said in a statement.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. echoed that warning, stating, “When an institution—no matter how prestigious—abandons its mission and fails to protect its students, it forfeits the legitimacy that accreditation is designed to uphold.” He added that HHS and the Department of Education would maintain “sustained oversight” until Harvard restores trust and ensures its campus is safe for all students.

The move follows a series of anti-Israel protests at Harvard that included class disruptions, building takeovers, and multi-day encampments, creating an environment where Jewish students reported feeling targeted and unsafe. A congressional investigation in September concluded that Harvard “failed” to punish most of those who disrupted campus life, while a university-commissioned report found that more than a quarter of Jewish students felt physically unsafe and nearly 60 percent reported experiencing discrimination or bias.

The Trump administration has already revoked over \$2 billion in federal funding from Harvard after the university refused to comply with demands to reform its disciplinary processes and foreign student admissions policies to combat antisemitism on campus. The administration has taken a hard line, rejecting Harvard’s attempts to negotiate, signaling it will not back down from holding the elite institution accountable.

Harvard now finds itself in a precarious position as it faces the possibility of losing accreditation, which would strip the university of access to federal student aid and could lead to a cascade of lawsuits, enrollment declines, and reputational damage. Accreditation is a requirement for many forms of federal funding and for students to receive federal financial aid, making it a core pillar of Harvard’s ability to function.

The threat comes as the Trump administration continues a broader crackdown on elite universities over antisemitism and woke campus activism. Trump’s team has argued that prestigious schools have long operated without accountability while receiving billions in taxpayer funds, and they see this moment as an opportunity to force change.

Critics of Harvard’s leadership have pointed out that despite its prestige, the university has repeatedly failed to protect Jewish students from targeted harassment while tolerating radical activism on campus. The administration’s actions have put Harvard’s leadership in a bind: comply with federal demands and face backlash from left-wing activists on campus, or continue resisting and risk catastrophic fallout if accreditation is revoked.

The Department of Education said it expects the accreditor to keep it informed of Harvard’s compliance efforts and to enforce its standards rigorously. This means the clock is ticking for Harvard to address its failures, and the threat of losing accreditation is no longer theoretical.

The Trump administration’s push represents a pivotal moment for higher education, sending a clear message that even America’s most powerful universities are not immune from accountability. If Harvard does not take immediate and meaningful steps to address antisemitism on campus, it could face an unprecedented crisis that would ripple through the world of higher education and send a warning to other elite institutions that ignoring federal law comes with a cost.