“They’ve realized that they can take a bit of a step further, that they can advance their policy priorities through those levers they have through the state university system,” said Preston Cooper, a senior fellow who studies higher education policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

The investigation comes only two days after a federal judge cast doubt on the Trump administration’s argument in Harvard’s lawsuit over federal funding.

The State Department announced on Wednesday that it has opened an investigation into Harvard University’s use of the foreign student visa program. The agency is considering whether the Ivy League institution has violated any regulations of the Exchange Visitor Program and is questioning if the university remains an eligible sponsor for foreign students,

Officials say eight children at a church near Harvard University where a French youth choir was holding a concert suffered seizure-like symptoms and were taken to hospitals.

A Massachusetts judge hasn't ruled on Harvard's lawsuit against the Trump administration, but she did make some pointed comments on Monday.

Legal analysts say Harvard has a strong case in arguing that the U.S. government improperly cut $2.2 billion in federal funding from the Ivy League school. The federal district judge presiding over a key hearing Monday appeared skeptical of the government’s arguments.