Foreign Funding in U.S. Higher Education Takes Renewed Spotlight
The State and Education departments partner to enhance transparency of foreign funding at American universities, citing national security concerns over potential foreign exploitation
The U.S. State Department announced a significant new partnership with the Department of Education on February 23, designed to improve transparency and oversight of foreign funding flowing into American universities. The initiative, established under President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14282 titled “Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities,” represents a coordinated federal effort to safeguard American students and research from potential foreign exploitation.
Under this new interagency cooperation agreement, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) will play an expanded role in supporting Section 117 oversight of U..S higher education, a provision that has long required colleges and universities to disclose foreign gifts and contracts.
Historic Transparency Initiative Addresses Long-Standing Vulnerabilities
The Trump administration’s renewed focus on transparency regarding foreign influence at American universities has uncovered the staggering scale of international funding flowing into U.S. higher education. Newly released data from the Department of Education reveals that American colleges accepted more than $5.2 billion in international gifts and contracts in 2025 alone, part of approximately $67.6 billion total received since the federal government began requiring reporting in 1986.
Qatar emerges as the dominant foreign funder, having contributed $7.7 billion to U.S. universities over four decades, followed by China at $6.4 billion, Germany at $4.7 billion, and Saudi Arabia at $4.2 billion. Harvard leads recipient institutions with $4.2 billion, followed by Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania. In 2025 alone, Carnegie Mellon and MIT each received approximately $1 billion.
Strengthening National Security Measures
The Department of Education’s newly upgraded Section 117 Foreign Gift & Contract Reporting portal now provides greater public visibility into these financial relationships. Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that the portal marks “a new era of transparency for the American people and streamlined compliance for colleges and universities.”
However, compliance challenges persist, with the Education Department stating that between Feb. 28 and Dec. 16, 2025, more than $2 billion in reportable gifts and contracts were reported late. Four universities—Harvard, Penn, UC Berkeley, and the University of Michigan—are currently under investigation for inaccurate or untimely disclosures.
Congressional Push to Strengthen Foreign Agent Registration
Beyond higher education, Congress is intensifying efforts to close regulatory gaps exploited by foreign actors. Recent congressional developments highlight heightened focus on the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), particularly regarding foreign influence through tax-exempt nonprofits. The House Ways and Means Committee convened hearings on “Foreign Influence in American Non-profits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond,” examining how foreign actors exploit regulatory gaps to advance agendas adverse to U.S. national security while benefiting from tax-exempt status.
Congress is considering the Foreign Registration Obligations for Nonprofit Transparency (FRONT) Act, which would require certain tax-exempt organizations receiving funds from “countries of concern” to register under FARA. Additionally, policy proposals and DOJ legislative priorities have included narrowing exemptions and enabling retroactive registration.
K-12 Schools Face Regulatory Vacuum
Perhaps more troubling are the regulatory gaps in K-12 education, where foreign funding operates with virtually no transparency requirements. A previous Jewish Onliner report exposing Qatar Foundation International’s (QFI) extensive K-12 network reveals how foreign influence reaches over one million students across all 50 states through Arabic language programs, teacher training, and curriculum development.
According to the Wall Street Journal, QFI distributed at least $30.6 million to K-12 schools between 2009 and 2017, with substantial additional funding afterward. Unlike universities subject to mandatory reporting thresholds, K-12 schools have no federal disclosure requirements for foreign funding.
Most alarming, a 2025 report by ISGAP documents QFI’s influence over Brown University’s Choices Program, which reaches over 8,000 schools and educates more than one million students. Between 2011 and 2022, curriculum content was quietly modified, removing the Balfour Declaration, misrepresenting Israel’s capital, and reframing designations of terrorist organizations, without notifying schools or parents. In April 2025, Brown ended its support the program.
A 2021 survey found that 84% of Americans believe parents have a right to know if foreign entities fund their child’s education, yet no mechanism currently exists to provide this information in K-12 settings.
In a previous statement to Jewish Onliner, House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg stressed the urgency: “Foreign actors use seemingly benign cultural programs to target students and indoctrinate our children. We’re sending a clear message: foreign influence has no place in our K-12 schools.”
As it should! The top funder is Qatar. Second in line is China. So we have Jihadists and commies funding our educational systems and brainwashing our youngsters simply because those colleges and universities love money more than an education based on American culture and history.