Washington, The United States said Monday it will provide more information on foreign funding to US universities as conservatives air alarm about donations by countries including Qatar, which provided $1.2 billion last year.
The State Department, without criticizing Qatar or any other countries, said it was establishing a portal with the Education Department to show foreign donations and help “address potential threats and protect vital interests.”
“It’s about shining a flashlight so that we have a better understanding about what foreign gifts and contracts are coming in from foreign entities,” Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent told reporters.
“We’re not making a value judgment today here on a particular country or a particular pot of money that is going into colleges universities. But what we are concerned with is just making sure that it is transparent to the American people,” he said.
People can then “ask questions about, what is this money buying them? What foreign influence or foreign malignant may come along with these funds?”
Foreign governments, individuals or businesses donated $5.2 billion to US universities in 2025, according to the Education Department.
Qatar was the top donor at more than $1.2 billion, followed by Britain at $633 million and China at $528 million.
Top recipients were Carnegie Mellon University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — both major hubs for engineering and scientific research — and Harvard University.
US law requires universities to declare any foreign gifts or contracts above $250,000, although officials said underreporting has been a problem.
Conservative activists have been vocal in recent years about funding by Qatar to Middle Eastern studies departments, despite the energy-rich Gulf kingdom’s warm relationship with President Donald Trump.
Since it was hit by the October 7, 2023 attacks, Israel has been sharply critical of Qatar over its financial and political relations, once tacitly blessed by Israel and the United States, with Hamas.
China’ role has gone down over the past decade after Congress restricted funding to universities that welcome Confucius Institutes, which are funded by Beijing to teach the Chinese language but are accused of presenting only the communist government’s worldview.
Lawmakers of Trump’s Republican Party have been advancing legislation to lower the threshold for reporting donations and spelling out penalties for non-compliance.
Republican Representative Michael Baumgartner, introducing a bill last year, said that China and other countries “have quietly infiltrated our colleges and universities, using their financial influence to open the floodgates to endless cash that comes with hidden agenda.”
The scrutiny comes after the Trump administration slashed billions of dollars in research funding to universities, which conservatives, notably Vice President JD Vance, have branded as the enemy due to their influence and faculties’ often left-wing tilt.
The Trump administration has justified freezes or cuts by accusing universities of antisemitism over protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
