Trump Admin Ramps Up Efforts to Uncover Foreign Money Given to US Universities

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Feb 25, 2026 - 10:49 Updated: Feb 25, 2026 - 10:44
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Trump Admin Ramps Up Efforts to Uncover Foreign Money Given to US Universities

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The Departments of State and Education have announced a new partnership to bolster oversight of billions of dollars in foreign gifts and contracts given to schools across the United States.

The interagency collaboration will “enhance U.S. national security by improving the accuracy and transparency of American colleges’ and universities’ reporting” of foreign funds, the State Department said in a Feb. 23 statement.

The department added that its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will “provide vital support” to the Education Department in enforcing a federal disclosure law. Known as Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the law mandates that domestic higher education institutions file reports disclosing any foreign gifts and contracts worth $250,000 or more.

In an executive order issued last April, President Donald Trump said Section 117 had failed to be “robustly enforced,” leaving true amounts, sources, and purposes of foreign money flowing to American campuses shrouded in mystery. He pledged to end this secrecy, saying in the executive order that his administration aims to “protect the marketplace of ideas from propaganda sponsored by foreign governments” and “safeguard America’s students and research from foreign exploitation.”
In December 2025, the Department of Education unveiled a new and improved Section 117 portal to facilitate universities and colleges in reporting foreign donations.

With the establishment of this partnership, the Department of State will now help manage the foreign funds reporting system, and “use its national security and foreign national academic admissions expertise to review and assess the industry’s compliance with the law, share data with the public and federal stakeholders, and identify potential threats,” the Education Department said in a separate statement on Feb. 23.

“Foreign gift data reported by universities should be readily accessible to our top national security experts, allowing for proactive and decisive action to protect America’s critical interests,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the statement.

The collaboration received support from the top Republican on a House committee focusing on threats from the Chinese Communist Party.

“China has given more than $6 billion to American universities as it seeks to infiltrate our campuses, promote its authoritarian agenda, and gain access to taxpayer-funded research,” Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chair of the House Select Committee on China, said in a Feb. 23 statement.

The congressman described the partnership as an example of the Trump Administration’s push for “accountability from academic leaders who have allowed their campuses to be havens for China’s espionage efforts.”

Data released by the Department of Education earlier this month showed that in 2025, domestic universities and colleges received more than $5.2 billion in foreign gifts and contracts.

Qatar emerged as the top foreign funder, contributing more than $1 billion to U.S. institutions. It was followed by Britain at more than $633 million. China ranked as the third-largest foreign contributor, gifting and contracting more than $528 million to U.S. universities and colleges.

The top three recipients of these foreign funds were Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University.

Scrutiny of colleges’ potential failure to disclose foreign gifts was also a focus during Trump’s first term.
Federal enforcement efforts were triggered by a February 2019 investigation by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which described foreign governments’ spending on U.S. schools as a “black hole.” It found that colleges and universities “routinely” failed to comply with reporting obligations, with nearly 70 percent failing to properly disclose funding received from Confucius Institutes, a Chinese state-sponsored language program.
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