Today, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) notified institutions of higher education of a new foreign funding reporting portal, set to launch on January 2, 2026. Pursuant to Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, postsecondary institutions receiving federal financial assistance must disclose foreign source gifts and contracts with a value of $250,000 or more annually to the Department.
The current reporting portal has not been meaningfully updated since the first Trump Administration. The Biden Administration did not make it a priority to enforce Section 117 or monitor potential foreign influence at American colleges and universities. The Trump Administration has made this a top priority and invested in this new system, which has already undergone careful internal and external testing by universities, and has been designed based on years of comments and feedback from university filers. Improved features include the ability to upload foreign funding disclosures in bulk rather than individually, executive summary visualizations to improve public transparency, and other helpful tools for drafting, reviewing, and submitting reports to the Department.
“The Trump Administration is launching a new state-of-the-art system for colleges and universities to more efficiently and securely report their foreign gifts and contracts as required under the law. 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,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “America’s taxpayer funded colleges and universities have both a moral and legal obligation to be fully transparent with the U.S. government and the American people about their foreign financial relationships. We are grateful to the many stakeholders for their feedback in designing this portal and look forward to vigorously protecting our educational institutions from potentially harmful foreign influence.”
Background
Section 117 of the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1011f) requires biannual disclosure of foreign source gifts and contracts with values of $250,000 or more annually to the Department. Section 117 also requires that those same foreign funding disclosures be made available for “public inspection” by the Department. Section 117’s disclosure requirements are intended to protect national security and academic integrity by providing transparency regarding potential foreign influence in higher education. Noncompliant institutions risk DOJ enforcement, including civil actions compelling compliance and recouping the full costs of enforcement.
Executive Order 14282, “Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities” (April 23, 2025), makes it a priority of President Trump’s Administration “to end the secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions and safeguard America’s students and research from foreign exploitation.” The new reporting portal is an important step by the Secretary to deliver on that promise to the American people.
The new Section 117 reporting portal is being launched to facilitate timely and accurate reporting by institutions of higher education. Over a period of 3 days, nine universities thoroughly beta-tested the new portal and provided valuable feedback which will be incorporated into the new portal’s features. The Department appreciates the constructive engagement of all beta testers, including the University of Texas at Austin, MD Anderson, the University of Texas Medical Branch, the University of Southern California, Pepperdine University, Purdue University, Indiana University, Washington University, and the University of Arizona. The new portal will go live on January 2, 2026, and will be located at www.ForeignFundingHigherEd.gov.
Since January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration has initiated four Section 117 investigations into Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, and the University of California, Berkeley amid reports of inaccurate and untimely foreign funding disclosures.