Alexandria, VA — Today, Americans for Public Trust released a new report exposing the staggering $60 billion in foreign gifts and contracts that has been funneled into American colleges and universities over the past several decades. This influx of foreign funds raises serious concerns about transparency, national security, and foreign influence in U.S. higher education.
Click here to read the full report on foreign funding in American higher education.
“For far too long, a staggering amount of foreign money has flowed into our colleges and universities with little to no transparency or oversight. Much of these foreign funds can be traced back to countries that have well-established adversarial relationships with the United States, or that engage in direct or indirect hostile activities against our country. It is no coincidence that, in the same time period, we’ve seen a rise in anti-American demonstrations and radical ideas being cultivated at these institutions. Elected leaders need to take action to crack down on reporting lapses at these institutions to increase accountability and raise public awareness about the entities and individuals influencing these institutions.” — Caitlin Sutherland, Executive Director, Americans for Public Trust
The report comes as the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up a vote on the DETERRENT Act, a bill that will expand “oversight and disclosure requirements related to foreign sources and institutions of higher education.”
Fast Facts:
- Federal law requires U.S. colleges and universities to disclose foreign gifts and contracts of $250,000 or more. However, enforcement has been weak, leading to widespread underreporting.
- Federal investigations have found that bad actors use foreign funding to influence research, campus policies, and curriculum to push anti-American narratives.
- Some of the largest foreign contributors to U.S. schools come from countries with long histories of anti-American sentiment, and their funds could be used to spread dangerous propaganda, steal intellectual property, and sow discord on our college campuses.
- Just in 2024 alone, China and Qatar together alone gifted or contracted over $500 million to American schools.
