WASHINGTON — A federal crackdown on universities that fail to disclose donations and contracts from foreign governments has ensnared Harvard and Yale, the Education Department said on Wednesday.

In letters to the schools on Tuesday, the department wrote that it was investigating whether the two Ivy League universities had failed to report at least $375 million from countries including China, Iran, Russia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The department is seeking extensive records related to grants, gifts, contracts and overseas programming.

In a letter to Harvard, the department said it was “aware of information suggesting Harvard University lacks appropriate institutional controls,” and as a result, the university’s reports to Washington may not include or fully reflect “all reportable gifts” and contracts “from or with foreign sources.”

In the case of Yale, officials wrote that although the university had “a considerable presence abroad, represented by sites in dozens of cities and countries,” it appeared to have “failed to report a single foreign source gift or contract in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.”