Peloni: The way to combat radicalism and foreign influence in the US educational system is not to disclose how badly foreigners are manipulating and weaponizing the American education system against America, but to actually intercede and prevent such influence from occurring. Knowing what is taking place is only relevant and useful if it actually leads to remedying any malfeasance taking place. Hence, it would seem a rational conclusion that it is not enough for Americans to know how badly Qatar and Saudi Arabia are influencing their children’s education which is the goal of the Accountability Portal, as such disclosures do nothing to limit the influence being disclosed. Despite the quaint name, there seems to be a stark lacking of accountability in the Accountability Portal which might be better named the Transparency Portal. The US needs to eliminate this foreign funding for the indoctrination process for the successive generations of America, not just expose it.
Foreign funding from Qatar and China to US universities also raises questions about public influence
Saudi Crown Prince MBS Welcomes Qatar Emir in Riyadh. Screengrab via Youtube.
Colleges and universities in the United States have received over $1.1 billion in funding from Qatar and more than $285 million from Saudi Arabia, according to data for 2025 released by the U.S. Department of Education.
In total, U.S. colleges and universities received $5.2 billion in foreign gifts and contracts in 2025, the Department of Education revealed on Wednesday citing data on its new online portal, which went live in early 2025 and was designed to increase transparency regarding foreign funding of U.S. higher education.
The Department of Education documented over 8,300 transactions on the portal, with Qatar topping the list of foreign funding by countries in 2025, with over $1.1 billion, followed by the United Kingdom at $633 million, and China at $528 million. Switzerland ($451 million) and Japan ($374 million) were the next largest donors.
China and Qatar have in recent years drawn scrutiny over claims that they use funding and donations to higher education institutions to influence public perceptions of their countries. Overall, about $67.6 billion in foreign funding to U.S. colleges and universities has been reported since disclosure became legally required in 1986, though much of that funding has been disclosed only since 2019.
When examining the data, Qatar leads the list of nations, having donated $7.7 billion, followed by China with $6.4 billion, Germany with $4.7 billion, England with $4.3 billion, and Saudi Arabia with $4.2 billion.
Linda McMahon, the U.S. secretary of education, said in a statement that, “Thanks to the Trump administration’s new accountability portal, the American people have unprecedented visibility into the foreign dollars flowing into our colleges and universities – including funding from countries and entities that are involved in activities that threaten America’s national security.”
“This marks a new era of transparency for the American people and streamlined compliance for colleges and universities, making it easier than ever for institutions to meet their legal obligations.”
McMahon said, “This transparency is essential not only to preserving the integrity of academic research but also to ensure the security and resilience of our nation.”
Cornell University, which saw several anti-Israel protests during the two-year Gaza war, received the largest amount ($2.3 billion) of Qatari funding, followed by Carnegie Mellon University with $2 billion.
The large amount of funding by Qatar has raised concern among Israel’s supporters, as many of the schools that received the funding also hosted anti-Israel demonstrations over the past two years.
The Trump administration even initiated lawsuits against several of the schools, or canceled federal funding.
In a press statement, the Department of Education said Harvard University has received more funding from entities in “countries of concern” since 1986 than any other institution. Both Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley, are the subject of ongoing federal probes launched after President Trump began his second term, over alleged failures to disclose foreign donations.
Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which was added in 1986, requires universities that receive federal funding to disclose any funding by a foreign entity, whether gifts or contracts, totaling more than $250,000 per year. The government has previously alleged that universities have not disclosed the full extent of their foreign funding, which is supported by research showing that over the past decade, about100 U.S. colleges and universities failed to disclose approximately $13 billion in undocumented contributions from foreign governments.
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