Harvard foreign gift transparency

A public-interest group on May 19 urged Harvard University and Yale University to disclose more about large foreign-linked donations after pointing to scholarship gifts tied to Chinese students. The group, the Global Philanthropy Accountability Project, said public materials showed SOHO China Foundation gave $15 million to Harvard and $10 million to Yale as part of a broader $100 million scholarship initiative announced in 2014. It said the issue was not whether such scholarships should exist, but whether elite universities should provide fuller public information about donor terms, due diligence and any institutional benefits tied to the gifts. The May 19 statement identified SOHO China Foundation as the vehicle created by Chinese real-estate billionaires Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin. The group said both university gifts were publicly framed as financial aid for Chinese students with demonstrated need. Steven, identified in the release as principal researcher of the Global Philanthropy Accountability Project, said universities should disclose “how those gifts are structured, what due diligence was conducted and what reputational or institutional benefits may come with them.” (streetinsider.com) ### What exactly is the group asking Harvard and Yale to disclose? The May 19 release called for public disclosure of gift agreements, donor conditions, reputational risk review and institutional benefits associated with major foreign-linked donations. The statement did not accuse Harvard or Yale of wrongdoing in accepting the gifts. Instead, it framed the request as part of a broader push for transparency around how foreign wealth enters U.S. institutions through philanthropy and education. (streetinsider.com) Section 117 of the Higher Education Act already requires universities that receive federal financial assistance to report foreign gifts and contracts valued at $250,000 or more in a calendar year. The U.S. Department of Education says those reports must be filed semiannually and are intended to promote public transparency about foreign funding in higher education. (streetinsider.com) ### Where do the Harvard and Yale scholarship figures come from? The figures cited by the group match public descriptions of the SOHO China scholarship program. The May 19 release said Harvard received $15 million and Yale received $10 million. Yale Daily News reported in October 2015 that Yale’s $10 million program was part of a broader $100 million SOHO China fund created in 2014 to encourage low-income Chinese students to apply to elite American universities, and that Harvard had introduced its program the prior year. (fsapartners.ed.gov) Yale Daily News also reported that Yale President Peter Salovey, former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi attended an event marking the Yale program’s launch. Gary Locke said at the event that the program would enable more Chinese students to study in the United States. ### Why is Harvard part of a broader federal disclosure story? (streetinsider.com) The U.S. Department of Education told Harvard in an April 17, 2025 notice that its most recent Section 117 disclosures, including amended reports for 2014 through 2019, appeared “incomplete and inaccurate.” The department said Harvard had an ongoing duty to disclose qualifying foreign gifts and contracts and warned that failures to provide accurate reports could lead to Justice Department enforcement. (yaledailynews.com) The department’s Section 117 data page says foreign gift and contract filings are public records and that institutions self-report the information. A May 9, 2025 Education Department update said Harvard and Yale were among the institutions reporting the largest total dollar amounts in foreign gifts and contracts since the prior reporting period. (ed.gov) ### Did the earlier scholarship program raise questions at the time? Yale Daily News reported in 2015 that some students said they did not know how much of their aid came from the SOHO program, and some Harvard students quoted by the paper said their aid packages had not changed after being named scholars. One Harvard student quoted by the paper said, “The aid package doesn’t change.” (fsapartners.ed.gov) The next public checkpoint is the Education Department’s Section 117 reporting system, where foreign gift and contract data for universities including Harvard and Yale are posted, and Harvard’s federal disclosure investigation remains open on the department’s last published notice. (ed.gov) (yaledailynews.com)