Harvard legal fees climb to $210 million amid Trump clash

Harvard legal fees reached about $210 million in the year to June, up from $126.6 million a year earlier, the university’s annual report showed.

The jump in Harvard legal fees reflects the cost of Harvard University‘s court fight with the Trump administration. A spokesperson said the total covered ongoing and one-time legal costs.

Before Trump returned to office, such fees hovered around $20 million. By 2024 they had climbed to $80 million, tax filings show.

What drove Harvard legal fees

The bill included appeals that the administration filed against early court rulings in Harvard’s favour. It also covered a $53 million settlement by Harvard Medical School with families in a body parts theft case.

President Alan Garber has led the university’s resistance. The federal government froze about $2 billion in research money after Harvard rejected its demands, and the university sued.

Endowment hits $68 billion

Even so, the report painted a stronger picture than many expected. The endowment rose to $68 billion, a gain of 19.5% on the $56.9 billion of a year before.

Harvard Management Company earned a 27.1% return on endowment assets. That was the second best result in a decade. Private equity grew to nearly half of the portfolio.

Payouts from the endowment came to $2.6 billion, which funded nearly 40% of the university’s operating revenue.

The university closed fiscal 2026 with $100 million left over from operations. In a $6.7 billion budget, however, that covers only about five days of expenses.

Most of the endowment is not free cash. It consists of roughly 15,000 separate funds, and donor rules restrict most of them, so the university can use less than 5% freely.

Chief financial officer Ritu Kalra urged caution. She wrote that Harvard would like to say “the uncertainty of the past two years is behind us.” Her verdict: “It is not.”

Donors cushion Harvard legal fees

Roughly 25,000 students attend Harvard’s dozen schools, and what they pay for tuition and housing, before aid, accounted for 22% of revenue. Donors gave more than $1.5 billion. Of that, $684 million went to current use, the most in the university’s history.

Garber called the gifts “votes of confidence.” Together with endowment payouts, giving supplied 48% of the university’s revenue.

Tax and cuts ahead

A new endowment tax adds pressure. Harvard will pay 8% instead of 1.4%, a change that flows from President Trump’s tax law, and the university estimates the bill at $300 million a year. The levy targets the richest private schools, those with endowments above $2 million per student, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also falls under it.

Larry Ladd, a former budget director at Harvard, called the tax “punitive.” He said it picks on only the richest schools.

To balance its books, the university cut staff across its schools. It also froze the endowment payout for next year, yet it still gave more than $775 million in financial aid.

In short, Harvard legal fees show how costly the dispute has become, even as donors and markets help the school stay afloat.