For decades, American universities have taken billions of dollars from foreign governments and entities.
Nearly $60 billion in gifts and contracts has been funneled to colleges across the country, often without the required federal reporting.
This money is not harmless. It buys influence, shapes research priorities, and gives hostile nations access to sensitive information.
WATCH: Foreign Billionaire Funneled $513 Million to Antifa Groups
Ten of the nation’s top universities—Harvard, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Penn, MIT, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Georgetown, and Columbia—alone accepted more than $20 billion.
Harvard took in over $3.2 billion, Cornell nearly $2.8 billion, and Columbia more than $1.1 billion.
These are schools that set the tone for American politics, research, and culture.
They are also the same institutions that push left-wing ideology while taking money from countries that oppose the United States.
Federal law requires transparency on foreign contracts and gifts, but those rules are weakly enforced.
Universities often fail to comply fully, and Democrats have shown no interest in holding them accountable.
That means adversaries like China, Russia, and Qatar can spend massive sums to gain access to intellectual property and shape what is taught in American classrooms, often without the public ever knowing.
In his second term, President Trump has expanded efforts to expose hidden foreign influence in higher education.
His administration strengthened federal oversight by directing the Department of Education to pursue schools that failed to comply with reporting requirements.
Universities are now compelled to disclose hundreds of millions in unreported foreign gifts and contracts, often from adversarial nations.
The administration has made compliance a top priority, warning institutions that secrecy would no longer be tolerated.
These investigations set a precedent, signaling to colleges that federal reporting requirements had teeth and that the flow of unmonitored foreign cash into America’s most elite schools would be confronted head-on.
Trump made clear that China and other adversaries were stealing American innovation and that universities had become one of their easiest targets.
When foreign governments fund programs on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and biotechnology at U.S. schools, they are buying a front-row seat to research that should be protected for America’s benefit.
When they fund cultural centers and academic programs, they are shaping what the next generation of American leaders believes about their own country.
Republicans in Congress must make stopping this a priority.
Just as foreign nationals cannot donate to political campaigns, they should not be allowed to secretly bankroll American universities.
Trump has already proven he can address this problem, and Republicans at every level should stand behind him.
