WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today commended the Trump administration’s Department of Education for launching its new online portal providing public transparency into foreign funding of American colleges and universities. The disclosures are required under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which mandates that institutions receiving federal financial assistance report foreign-source gifts and contracts valued at $250,000 or more.
For the first time, the new portal provides the American public with detailed access to reported foreign funding, including gifts and contracts from entities designated as “entities of concern” on nine federal government watchlists.
“The shocking revelations revealed in this new portal raise serious national security concerns about the active role America’s higher education institutions are playing in advancing the Chinese Communist Party’s malign activities,” said Jon Toomey, President of CPA. “They demonstrate that some of America’s most prestigious universities have accepted substantial funding from entities directly tied to China’s military-industrial establishment and are in effect serving as a research and development arm of the Chinese military-industrial establishment.”
The portal reveals that during 2025:
- U.S. colleges received nearly $100 million in gifts and/or contracts from firms listed on the “NS-CMIC List,” which identifies Chinese companies involved in China’s military-industrial complex and subject to U.S. investment prohibitions.
- 27 institutions received $50 million from companies on the “1260H List,” which tracks Chinese military companies operating directly or indirectly in the United States.
- An additional $173 million went to entities on the “1286 List,” which identifies institutions engaged in activities that increase the risk of Department of Defense-funded research and development being misappropriated by governments of “countries of concern” — currently China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela.
- Another $209 million came from entities on the Commerce Department’s “Entity List,” a roster of foreign actors to whom U.S. exporters may not transfer specified technologies without a license due to national security concerns.
In total, approximately $826 million in grants and contracts flowed to U.S. universities from entities associated with China’s “civil-military fusion” strategy — a program designed to integrate civilian research and commercial capabilities into the People’s Liberation Army.
Among the entities disclosed are:
- Sichuan University, listed on the Entity List since 2012 due to the Sichuan University Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology’s involvement in nuclear weapons development.
- AECC Hunan Aviation Powerplant Research Institute, developing engines for the PLA Air Force.
- China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation a wholly owned subsidiary of CNNC, a major state-owned enterprise with operations covering uranium conversion, enrichment, and fuel element fabrication.
“We do not yet know how much of this funding came in the form of unrestricted gifts, which could create influence concerns,” Toomey continued. “But the contractual arrangements may be even more troubling, as they suggest U.S. institutions are providing services to sanctioned companies that function as extensions of the People’s Liberation Army. Now that this information is publicly available, trustees, alumni, and policymakers should be asking why such relationships were permitted to develop — and whether these same universities are also invested in these Chinese military-fusion companies and other corporate bad actors through the investment portfolios of their endowments.”
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