New Bill Tightens Screws on Foreign Donations to Universities, Mandates Intel Agency Disclosure

This proposed legislation, the "Safeguarding American Education From Foreign Control Act," significantly modifies how U.S. colleges and universities must report foreign money. It amends Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, lowering the reporting threshold for some foreign gifts and contracts while adding intense scrutiny for others. The core purpose is to increase transparency about foreign financial influence on American campuses and share that information directly with national security agencies.

Opening the Books Wider

Under the current rules, institutions generally report foreign gifts or contracts valued at $250,000 or more within a calendar year. This bill keeps that threshold for most foreign sources but introduces a major change: any gift or contract, regardless of value, must be reported if it comes from a foreign source associated with a "covered nation." This term, defined elsewhere in U.S. Code (specifically 10 U.S.C. § 4872(f)(2), related to defense matters), designates certain countries deemed a security concern. Institutions would need to file these disclosures biannually, on January 31 or July 31.

Intel Inside Your Ivied Halls?

The most significant shift involves who sees these reports. Section 2 mandates that the Secretary of Education must transmit copies of all submitted foreign gift reports to both the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) within 10 days of receiving them. Furthermore, within 90 days of the bill's enactment, the Secretary must hand over all past and present reports and related documents generated under Section 117 investigations to the FBI and DNI. This creates a direct pipeline from university development offices to the intelligence community.

The Real-World Ripple Effect

While aiming for transparency and security, these changes could have practical consequences. Universities, especially smaller ones, might face increased administrative burdens tracking and reporting potentially numerous small donations from sources linked to 'covered nations'. More significantly, the automatic sharing with the FBI and DNI could create a chilling effect. Institutions might become hesitant to accept legitimate research grants, scholarships, or cultural exchange funding from donors or organizations in 'covered nations' to avoid automatic scrutiny, potentially impacting international collaborations and academic freedom. The reliance on a definition of 'covered nation' from a defense statute also introduces ambiguity about how broadly this might be applied in an educational context, potentially affecting students and researchers from specific countries.