But the president appeared to conflate the source of the funds allocated to Harvard with a set of federal loans meant for small businesses, and the university said it would keep the money and distribute it entirely to students in need. The Education Department said the formula for distributing the aid package to universities was set by Congress and cannot be altered.
The Education Department announced that thousands of universities and colleges, both public and private, would receive assistance. The recipients ranged from the Ivy League to beauty schools, and the money was divided up based on a formula taking into account the size and income level of the student body.
The amount Harvard received was in line with comparable universities. Among Ivy League schools, Cornell and Columbia received more, at roughly $12.8 million each. Stanford received $7.3 million, and Yale received $6.8 million. Some less prestigious universities received similar grants: $9.2 million for Arkansas State University and $9 million for Central Connecticut State University, for example.
The biggest allocation went to Arizona State University, which got $63.5 million.
But Harvard’s allocation generated withering criticism on social media and among Republican politicians this week because of its large endowment — $40.9 billion as of June. Critics said it was unseemly for such a wealthy university to be getting taxpayer money when 22 million people had recently joined the unemployment rolls.
“Just because the law was written to make the money available does not mean it was moral to take it,” she said, adding that the school has many other ways, including through loans, to support students and pay employees and staff members. Harvard “does not need a grant of public funds to do that,” she added.
“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,” said Jason Newton, a Harvard spokesman. “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.”
The Education Department said late Tuesday that the education secretary, Betsy DeVos, shared the president’s concern about money going to schools like Harvard. “Sending millions to schools with significant endowments is a poor use of taxpayer money,” said Angela Morabito, a department spokeswoman.
The formula for calculating funds to universities was based to a large degree on the overall student enrollment and the proportion of low-income students, as measured by those receiving federal financial aid through Pell Grants. Of the 6,600 undergraduates at Harvard, 16 percent are Pell Grant recipients, the university said, and in the 2018-19 academic year, Harvard provided $200 million in scholarships for its undergraduates.
“This financial assistance will be on top of the support the university has already provided to students — including assistance with travel, providing direct aid for living expenses to those with need, and supporting students’ transition to online education,” Mr. Newton, the Harvard spokesman, said on Tuesday.
“Although we entered this crisis in a position of relative financial strength, our resources are already stretched,” Mr. Bacow said. “If we are to preserve our core mission of teaching and scholarship, we face difficult, even painful, decisions in the days ahead.”
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