The U.S. State Department plans to use data that the Education Department has gathered about funding of U.S. colleges and universities to improve national security.
Sarah Rogers, U.S. under secretary of state for public diplomacy, stated that U.S. President Donald Trump “has been clear. Americans deserve transparency regarding foreign funding in American higher education.”
“This partnership gives the State Department additional tools and resources to make good on that promise while safeguarding the integrity of our academic institutions,” Rogers said.
The effort, which it announced on Monday, will involve an interagency partnership between the U.S. Departments of State and Education and Foggy Bottom’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is intended to improve transparency of foreign funding of U.S. higher education institutions.
The partnership will “enhance U.S. national security by improving the accuracy and transparency of American colleges’ and universities’ reporting of foreign gifts and contracts,” the State Department stated. It added that it will leverage the department’s “expertise in national security and foreign-national academic admissions.”
The data gathered from the reporting portal “can be easily used by national security experts and the public, ensuring the Department of State is able to address potential threats and protect vital interests decisively and proactively,” it added. (JNS sought comment from the Education and Justice Departments.)
The announcement follows an executive order, which U.S. President Donald Trump signed in April, “to end the secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions.”
The order mandates stricter enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which requires higher education institutions to report gifts and contracts from a foreign source of at least a combined $250,000 in a calendar year.
“Because Section 117 has not been robustly enforced, the true amounts, sources and purposes of foreign money flowing to American campuses are unknown,” per the order. “From 2010 to 2016, according to one study, universities failed to disclose more than half of reportable foreign gifts. Even when foreign funding is reported, its true sources are often hidden.”
The Education Department told JNS in September that it intended to improve its foreign funding reporting portal in the coming months, following criticism of large amounts of reported Arab funding of U.S. schools without adequate transparency.
Linda McMahon, U.S. education secretary, stated that “foreign gift data reported by universities should be readily accessible to our top national security experts, allowing for proactive and decisive action to protect America’s critical interests, as this partnership with State enables.”
