The Department of Education launched an investigation into the University of Pennsylvania on Thursday for allegedly failing to disclose foreign funding properly.

In a letter sent to UPenn President Larry Jameson, the Education Department suggested the university submitted “incomplete, inaccurate, and untimely disclosures.” 

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Under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, universities must disclose any foreign funding received above $250,000. However, the letter claims UPenn did not begin to disclose foreign funding until February 2019. 

“[Office of the General Counsel] will investigate this matter thoroughly, ensuring that universities cannot conceal the infiltration of our nation’s campuses by foreign governments and other foreign interests,” acting General Counsel Tom Wheeler said in a statement. “The American people and Congress have a right to know the impact of foreign funding on our universities, including some of our critically important research universities. We hope the University of Pennsylvania will be cooperative and forthcoming in response to this investigation.”

The Education Department determined the university possessed a 53% noncompliance rate on disclosure timeliness, citing one foreign disclosure in 2025 that dated back to 2006.

UPenn allegedly “frequently masked” the identity of its donors, which is strictly prohibited. 

Between February 2019 and June 2020, UPenn reported 176 disclosed donations valued at approximately $80 million as anonymous foreign sources. 

In addition, 90 transactions between July 2021 and July 2023 were incorrect “identifications of restricted and/or conditional foreign gifts and contracts, indicating insufficient reporting diligence by UPenn.”

OGC is requesting a laundry list of documents from the university, including tax records dating back to 2017, written agreements with all foreign governments or entities, and its written procedures to stay in compliance with foreign funding disclosures outlined in Section 117, among myriad other requests. 

Middle Eastern influence

UPenn is the fourth largest recipient of foreign funds, having received an estimated $2.54 billion. 

Although UPenn worked to “anonymize” the identity of many of its foreign donors, the Washington Examiner reported in December 2023 that the university received $2,523,680 from Saudi Arabian donors, including a one-time $1.2 million donation by the Saudi government in 2022.

Prior to the investigation, there was no indication that Qatar, the largest foreign donor in American higher education, had donated to UPenn. However, its efforts to conceal the identities of its foreign donors make it impossible to rule out for the time being.

Qatari donations have strongly correlated with an increase in anti-Israel and antisemitic activity on campus. UPenn has been at the center of fiery anti-Israel protests and has faced legal action for allowing antisemitic activity on campus.

Trump administration cracks down on foreign funding disclosure failures

The Trump administration’s investigation into UPenn comes after it launched similar inquiries into Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley, for improperly disclosing their foreign donors. 

A 2023 Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy report revealed that many American universities have failed to comply with foreign disclosure laws. At least 100 American colleges and universities illegally withheld $13 billion in foreign contributions in their reporting to the federal government. 

The crackdown comes after incidents of campus antisemitism increased by 84% between 2023 and 2024. Anti-Israel protests have continued into 2025, with one breaking out on Columbia University’s campus Wednesday.

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First Amendment lawyer and civil litigator Jeffrey Robbins sounded the alarm about the “nefarious” connection between universities receiving high amounts of foreign funding from Middle Eastern regimes and high rates of antisemitic and anti-Israel activity on campus in an interview with the Washington Examiner last year.

“There are universities and colleges that are receiving a ton of money from sources that have a take on this conflict,” Robbins said. “Any university or college that refrains from taking action when it comes to antisemitism because they have in the back of their mind the thought that they might lose donations is acting in a corrupt and nefarious way.”