Knowledge of the problem is not new. But the data being released may be more detailed and aggregative than is available from other sources of information about foreign funds going to our universities, including from enemy countries like the People’s Republic of China.
New data
The Department of Education has reported “new data on donations to American universities by foreign companies and universities that today are sanctioned by the U.S., including 527 donations from Chinese entities” (Newsweek, July 18, 2026).
A spreadsheet of 697 donations in total, obtained by Newsweek, is titled “Counterparties of Concern” and includes 156 donations to U.S. universities from Chinese technology giant Huawei and its U.S. subsidary FutureWei, totaling $42 million. Also prominent among donors was the Beijing Institute of Technology, one of China’s “Seven Sons of National Defense” military-affiliated universities, which donated more than $49 million.
The data aims to increase transparency in the U.S. and help end influence, as well as technology and knowledge outflow to China, said research security expert Jeffrey Stoff, President of the Center for Research Security & Integrity. Universities were not disclosing all donations, Stoff told Newsweek. “They [the Department of Education] intend to enforce the reporting rules more aggressively,” he said….
In total, dozens of U.S. universities received $405 million dollars from the now-sanctioned Chinese entities as well as entities in Russia, Serbia and Israel, the data shows, with $309 million coming from China.
A bigger reported number, $4 to $6 billion in financial gifts to U.S. universities from Chinese sources, includes funds from both sanctioned entities (the $309 million) and others that have not been sanctioned.
What is being counted?
The Education Department data goes back to 1986, when Section 117 of the Higher Education Act took effect.
Section 117 requires higher-degree-issuing, accredited universities that receive federal funds to report on foreign donations. So foreign funding to community colleges and others is not part of the tally, even though community colleges and K-12 schools have received payments from organizations affiliated with the Chinese government to maintain so-called Confucius Institutes or Confucius Classrooms (or whatever the current names are of these propaganda purveyors).
The reporting requirement even for schools required to report was not much enforced until 2019. The surge in reporting after 2019 included payments that universities had received in earlier years. Despite the catch-up reporting, though, universities have probably not mentioned every dollar of the funding from now-sanctioned Chinese entities that they have received since 1986. Newsweek’s reporting suggests that at least some U.S. universities may not be fully divulging even current funds from foreign sources.
Also relevant is exactly when sanctioned Chinese entities were sanctioned. Some might suggest that universities are not as blameworthy for accepting funds from a PLA-linked Chinese company or university before a U.S. agency got around to formally listing it. On the other hand, there’s such a thing as knowing where you’re getting your money from and what the consequences of militarily useful academic collaborations are likely to be.
Can do better
Although major U.S. universities are accepting fewer funds from certain U.S.-highlighted Chinese sources, no school seems to have adopted a policy of rejecting all funds originating in the People’s Republic of China or other enemy countries. This means that financially mediated CCP influence on U.S. higher education isn’t being cut off. Even Chinese companies and institutions that will never be on any U.S. list of sanctioned or semi-sanctioned entities must answer to the Chinese Communist Party.
