Two Republican lawmakers are planning to crack down on unreported foreign donations to American colleges and universities.
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., have asked officials at the Department of Education to reveal how they have enforced Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 under the Biden administration.
Section 117 requires federally funded higher education institutions to biannually file disclosure reports with the Secretary of Education if the schools receive any gifts from a foreign source valuing $250,000 or more or enter into any contracts with a foreign government or organization.
The rule is meant to protect academic integrity and counter any negative foreign influence on teaching and research.
“American academia remains a target of foreign malign influence, particularly to countries whose interests are antithetical to America and its national security,” the lawmakers wrote. “The Committee seeks to ensure that the Department is safeguarding American education from foreign malign influence efforts that compromise America’s academic freedom and national security.”
Under the first Donald Trump administration, the Department uncovered $6.5 billion in unreported foreign money after opening investigations into only twelve institutions.
But the Biden administration rolled back these efforts, the lawmakers said, reversing the progress and hampering the ability of policymakers to “detect and respond to foreign influence operations under the guise of ‘academia.’”
The lawmakers’ letter also references a September report from the National Association of Scholars, which revealed it is now “commonplace” for American colleges and universities to accept billions from foreign governments and organizations, and then never report it.
Besides the ideological conflicts of interest this illegal practice poses, the U.S. has also seen a rise in intellectual property theft as foreign institutions, particularly based in China, will infiltrate university-led research projects.
