The Trump administration is suing Harvard University for alleged failures to comply with a US Department of Justice civil rights investigation.
The lawsuit accuses Harvard of not disclosing data needed to determine whether it had illegally considered race in its admissions process.
"Providing requested data is a basic expectation of any credible compliance process," the justice department's civil rights head, Harmeet Dhillon, said in a news release on Friday.
In an emailed statement to the BBC, Harvard said it has been "responding to the government's inquiries in good faith and continues to be willing to engage with the government according to the process required by law".
The university also said it "refused to surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights in response to unlawful government overreach".
