U.S. adversaries have poured billions of dollars into dozens of American colleges and universities over the past few decades, according to a watchdog report.
China and Qatar have put nearly $12 billion into American educational institutions from 1990-2023, with most of the funds going to highly ranked schools, right-leaning dark money watchdog Americans for Public Trust said in a newly released report.
“Billions in foreign money has been flowing into colleges and universities for decades, and it’s extremely troubling that so much is concentrated from countries that are openly hostile to the United States. Nearly $12 billion has come from China and Qatar alone, frequently to elite research institutions like Harvard, MIT, and Columbia,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust.
“As a result, these foreign entities can purchase influence, shape curriculum, steer research priorities, and cultivate student bodies sympathetic to their views—ultimately serving as a vehicle for propaganda.”
China has put over $3.7 billion into more than 200 U.S. universities with 42 percent of the spending going to ten schools. Harvard University, New York University, Columbia University, and Stanford University are among the top-tier schools China has given significant amounts of money to during the relevant time period.
In addition, Hong Kong, a special region of China, has spent nearly $2 billion on funding for American universities, with 75 percent of it going to ten prestigious schools. Harvard and Yale University each received over $200 million from Hong Kong and Stanford University got $195 million, the report shows.
China is the U.S.’s closest peer competitor internationally with the world’s second largest economy and a growing presence in global affairs. Due to China’s industrial levels of espionage and intellectual property theft, lawmakers including Senator Jim Banks (R., Ind.) have proposed legislation to impose more stringent foreign donation disclosure requirements on universities and limit their research partnerships with Chinese counterparts.
Not to be outdone, Qatar has spent $6.25 billion on U.S. colleges and universities with 99 percent of the money going to ten schools. The leading recipient of Qatari funds is Cornell University, having gotten over $2 billion from the oil-rich Arab nation. Texas A&M, Georgetown University, and Carnegie Mellon have also received north of $900 million in Qatari money. Northwestern University has gotten $713 million from Qatar and Virginia Commonwealth University has received $333 million, Americans for Public Trust found.
Qatar’s relationship with the U.S. is complicated because of it simultaneously supports foreign terrorist organizations and assists the U.S. military with Middle Eastern operations. Qatar has worked with the U.S. on ceasefire negotiations to halt the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, with Qatar being one of Hamas’s top backers. Qatar has helped the U.S. defeat ISIS and entered into multiple defense agreements with the U.S. military.
Ten schools have hauled in over $20 billion in foreign cash, with Harvard as the top recipient of more than $3 billion of foreign funds. Second on the list is Cornell University with $2.8 billion and just below is Carnegie Mellon, also at $2.8 billion. The University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have also raked in over $2 billion of foreign money, according to the report. Stanford, Johns Hopkins University, Yale, Georgetown, and Columbia have all brought in north of $1 billion of foreign funds, rounding out the top 10.
Americans for Public Trust’s report is based on data from the Department of Education’s foreign gift and contract data under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The rarely enforced law requires colleges and universities to disclose foreign gifts and contracts worth at least $250,000 in a given year. Although part of China, Hong Kong is considered a separate entity in the federal database the report is based on.
The watchdog previously released a report showing colleges and universities have received a total of close to $60 billion in foreign donations over the past several decades as national security concerns grow regarding foreign influence over U.S. universities.