Justice Department Sues Harvard to Force Over Applicant-Level Admissions Records

The Justice Department sued Harvard University in federal district court in Massachusetts on February 13, 2026, seeking an injunction ordering the school to produce admissions records the department has requested since April 2025 and to comply with all future document demands. The case was assigned to Judge Myong J. Joun. The government alleges Harvard breached Title VI obligations and contractual commitments tied to federal grant funding. It says Harvard produced more than 2,000 pages in May 2025 but that the material was largely aggregated data rather than the applicant-level records sought.

The suit is the latest instrument in a two-year campaign of federal leverage against Harvard that has previously run through research funding and student visa certification. The contested question is whether a civil rights investigation opened after the Supreme Court's 2023 decision on race-conscious admissions can compel individualized applicant files as a condition of federal funding.

Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton said the university had engaged in good faith and called the suit retaliatory, saying Harvard "will continue to defend itself against these retaliatory actions which have been initiated simply because Harvard refused to surrender its independence." The case was pending at filing.