An article from This week in 5 numbers: Harvard comes under scrutiny of Trump administration

We’re rounding up recent stories, from one Ivy League university facing a multibillion-dollar federal review to another losing its president in under a year.

Published April 4, 2025 Laura Spitalniak Editor

• post
• share
• post
• print
• email
• license

Maddie Meyer/Getty via Getty Images

From the Trump administration's multibillion review into one of the best-known colleges in the world to continued leadership tumult at Columbia University, we’re rounding up the top-line figures from some of our biggest stories of the week. 

By the numbers   $9B The value of Harvard University’s contracts and multi-year grant commitments under review by the federal government. Trump's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is leveraging allegations that Harvard failed to protect Jewish students to review funds stemming from multiple agencies.   8 The approximate number of months Dr. Katrina Armstrong served as Columbia University's interim president before she resigned last week. Under her brief tenure, the Ivy League institution had $400 million in federal grants and contracts canceled and made the controversial decision to acquiesce to several unprecedented demands from the Trump administration.   88% The year-over-year decline in complaints of antisemitic discrimination or harassment at Northwestern University as of November 2024. Amid increasing federal scrutiny, the institution this week shared how it has updated its policies and disciplinary procedures in an effort to crack down on antisemitism.   2027 The year Villanova University's acquisition of Rosemont College is set to begin. The multiyear transition period for the two Catholic Pennsylvania institutions comes after Rosemont faced years of economic instability and declining enrollment.   11 The number of Democratic senators calling on the U.S. Department of Education's acting inspector general to investigate Trump's efforts to dismantle the agency. The lawmakers, led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, said the administration's recent decimation of the department workforce likely leaves it unable to perform key functions. waitToLoadAds.push(function() { googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (window.dfp_visibility == 'mobile' ) { googletag.display('dfp-hybrid1-mobile'); googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) { var adUnitPath = '/21662595662/highereddive/highereddivehybrid1'; var onProformative = false; if (onProformative && event.slot.getAdUnitPath() === adUnitPath && !event.isEmpty ) { var adUnitPathWithVisibility = adUnitPath + '-mobile'; var selector = '.pf-comments__ad-wrapper [data-container-ad-unit-id="' + adUnitPathWithVisibility + '"]'; if (!$(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').hasClass('borders')) { $(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').addClass('borders') } } }); } }); }); waitToLoadAds.push(function() { googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (window.dfp_visibility == 'desktop' ) { googletag.display('dfp-hybrid2-desktop'); googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) { var adUnitPath = '/21662595662/highereddive/highereddivehybrid2'; var onProformative = false; if (onProformative && event.slot.getAdUnitPath() === adUnitPath && !event.isEmpty ) { var adUnitPathWithVisibility = adUnitPath + '-desktop'; var selector = '.pf-comments__ad-wrapper [data-container-ad-unit-id="' + adUnitPathWithVisibility + '"]'; if (!$(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').hasClass('borders')) { $(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').addClass('borders') } } }); } }); });

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• purchase licensing rights

Higher Ed Dive news delivered to your inbox

Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts

Email:

• Select user consent: By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at anytime.

Sign up A valid email address is required. Please select at least one newsletter. Editors' picks

• Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images Trump signs order closing Education Department to ‘maximum extent appropriate’

  The directive comes on the heels of U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon's decision to gut half the agency as its "final mission.”

  By Naaz Modan • Updated March 20, 2025
• Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images Trump administration can enforce anti-DEI orders, appeals court rules

  The three-judge panel lifted a lower court’s preliminary injunction that had blocked major portions of two executive orders. 

  By Natalie Schwartz • March 17, 2025