The Trump administration intends to launch a portal on Jan. 2 for universities to report foreign funding of at least $250,000, as they are required to do under the Higher Education Act, the U.S. Department of Education said on Monday.
Linda McMahon, U.S. education secretary, called the platform “state of the art” and said it will be a more efficient and secure way for schools to report overseas gifts and contracts.
“After years of neglect by the Biden administration, the new portal will assist our institutions of higher education in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities and enable us to protect our national security by facilitating improved compliance,” she stated.
The department said that nine schools, including University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin and Indiana University, tested the portal.
The House Committee on Education and Workforce stated that the portal shows that “the Trump administration is taking this threat seriously and protecting students from foreign influence.”
Craig Singleton, China program senior director and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stated that the site was “a major win for transparency.”
“This is the accountability boost universities need to guard against foreign influence and protect U.S. research,” he said.
