LONG OVERDUE: State Department to Crack Down on Universities That Take Money From Foreign Entities on Government Watch Lists

The State Department and a handful of other government agencies are going to start cracking down on colleges and universities that take money from foreign entities that are on government watch lists.

This is something we should have been doing for years, but better late than never.

Higher education is always looking for new forms of revenue and will take cash from pretty much anywhere. It’s a significant threat to national security.

CBS News reports:

Universities receive millions in funding from foreign entities on U.S. government watch lists, records show

Major U.S. universities have received millions of dollars in funding from foreign entities that are on U.S. government watch lists, according to a CBS News review of university funding records submitted to the Department of Education.

State Department and Education Department officials say the disclosure forms, which have not been previously reported, show a combined $27.6 million received in roughly the second half of last year by dozens of top American research institutions that originated from entities appearing on at least one federal government watch list. There are 10 cautionary and restricted watch lists overseen by the departments of Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security, Defense and State, which flag companies and organizations that should be subject to extra scrutiny due to their ties to foreign government interests.

The two agencies are working together to crack down on academic partnerships with foreign companies and organizations that the Trump administration says could threaten national security.

In one example from the disclosure forms, a company in China that develops state-of-the-art aeronautics for the People’s Liberation Army gave more than $7 million total to three American universities considered top-tier research institutions. In another instance, the largest amount in the documents, disclosed in 2020, was $22.6 million for a 50-year contract from the Beijing Institute of Technology to Bryant University in Rhode Island.

On Wednesday, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah B. Rogers sent a letter to the governing boards of major research universities alerting them that future grant-making agencies will be checking if institutions take money from foreign entities on U.S. watch lists — and could pull federal funding for those that do.

At the end of Trump’s first term, Senate Republicans were aggressively pursuing action against China and the huge influence they wield on American college campuses.

It’s good to see the second Trump administration revisiting the topic with an even broader view.