DoD Cuts Ties: New Act Bans Military Contracts with Tutoring Services Owned by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea

The new legislation, officially titled the Turning Untrusted Tutoring Origins Away from Resources Act of 2025—or the TUTOR Act for short—is a straightforward move to tighten national security around Department of Defense (DoD) contracts. Essentially, this bill puts a hard stop on the DoD hiring any company for online tutoring services if that company is owned by the governments of specific "countries of concern."

The Security Upgrade: Who’s Out?

This isn't just a minor update; it's an expansion of existing rules. Previously, the DoD had restrictions on contracting with companies tied to the People's Republic of China for these services. The TUTOR Act broadens that net significantly. It explicitly defines the "countries of concern" that trigger this contract ban: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. If an online tutoring service is owned by any of these four governments, the DoD is now prohibited from awarding them any contracts (Sec. 2).

Why This Matters for Everyday Security

For most people, the DoD's tutoring contracts might sound like niche bureaucracy. But think about what's being taught: military training, technical skills, and potentially sensitive educational materials. When the DoD hires an online service, that company gains access to data, usage patterns, and potentially the content being delivered to servicemembers. This bill is about closing a potential backdoor. By preventing companies owned by adversarial governments from handling these contracts, the DoD is trying to prevent intellectual property theft, data compromise, or even simple espionage that could occur if sensitive training information flowed through foreign-owned servers.

The Real-World Impact on the Contract Market

This clarity is good news for the DoD and for domestic contractors. It removes any ambiguity about who can and cannot bid on these lucrative government contracts. For online tutoring companies that are not owned by the listed foreign governments, this opens up a clearer field for competition. For the few companies that might be directly affected—those owned by the governments of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea—they are effectively shut out of the DoD marketplace. The low vagueness in the bill's language, which clearly names the four prohibited nations, means there’s little room for confusion on who is banned. It’s a clean break designed to enhance the security perimeter around military education.