New report sounds alarm on ‘staggering’ amount of foreign money pouring into US universities

FIRST ON FOX: A new report from a nonprofit and nonpartisan government watchdog is shedding light on the tens of billions of dollars that have poured into U.S. universities in recent years, including $20 billion to some of the most prestigious universities in the country. 

The report, produced by Americans for Public Trust and released this week, found that $60 billion in foreign gifts and contracts were funneled into American colleges and universities, including $20 billion alone to elite schools like Harvard, Yale, and others. 

Within that total, $795 million came from nations that are long-standing adversaries to the United States, including China, Russia, Venezuela and Yemen.

“Alarmingly, many of these schools are also top research universities that handle sensitive information and intellectual property,” the study states.

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A new study sheds light on the amount of foreign funding to top U.S. universities. (Getty/AP)

The report amplifies concerns that this money is coming into American universities with strings attached and peddling influence from foreign actors overseas. 

“For far too long, a staggering amount of foreign money has flowed into our colleges and universities with little to no transparency or oversight,” Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, told Fox News Digital. 

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Signs near the encampment at Harvard University called for Palestinians to take land in Israel. (Nikolas Lanum/Fox News Digital)

“Much of these foreign funds can be traced back to countries that have well-established adversarial relationships with the United States or engage in direct or indirect malign activities against our country. It is no coincidence that, in the same time period, we’ve seen a rise in anti-American demonstrations and radical ideas being cultivated at these institutions. Elected leaders need to take action to crack down on reporting lapses at these institutions to increase accountability and raise public awareness about the entities and individuals influencing these institutions.”

Anti-Israel protests have erupted on college campuses across the country in recent years, and the report states that threat in 2024, “some of the schools that received the most Qatari money included Ivy League members Harvard and Cornell Universities. 

“Sadly, both schools have seen a sharp uptick in antisemitic violence and rhetoric since the horrific invasion of Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas in October 2023.”

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The report also documents concerns about money from China pouring into Ivy League institutions.

“The effects of monies flowing into college campuses from China are dangerous and widespread,” the report states. “In 2024, China poured over $175 billion into U.S. schools, and the historic breadth of this vast enterprise cannot be understated; Americans for Public Trust has already previously uncovered nearly $130 million in Chinese funding to the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania alone over a roughly five-year period.”

The study concludes that measures need to be taken to ensure foreign influence is not prevalent at American schools, including the passage of the DETERRENT ACT, which would “deter bad actors from attempting to buy influence, conduct espionage, and sow propaganda and discord across the United States via our higher education system.”