Trump administration opens foreign-funding investigation into UC Berkeley

The Department of Education has opened an investigation into whether the University of California, Berkeley, failed to disclose the extent of its international funding, as the Trump administration trains its sights on foreign dollars flowing into U.S. higher education.

The department initiated Friday a Notice of Investigation and Records Request following a review that found the university’s foreign-funding disclosures under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 “may be incomplete or inaccurate.”

The probe comes a week after the department requested records from Harvard University about its disclosures under Section 117, which requires that educational institutions receiving federal funds must disclose foreign gifts and contracts that exceed $250,000.

Berkeley drew transparency concerns for reportedly failing to disclose $220 million in funding from the Chinese government for the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, a research partnership, prompting a 2023 House investigation.

Even so, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the Biden administration never opened a probe into the potential violation of Section 117 at Berkeley – or any other university.

“The Biden-Harris administration turned a blind eye to colleges and universities’ legal obligations by deprioritizing oversight and allowing foreign gifts to pour onto American campuses,” Ms. McMahon said in a statement. “Despite widespread compliance failures, no new Section 117 investigations were initiated for four years, and ongoing investigations were closed prematurely.”

She said that “I have great confidence in my Office of General Counsel to investigate these matters fully, and they will begin by thoroughly examining UC Berkeley’s apparent failure to fully and accurately disclose significant funding received from foreign sources.”

Dan Mogulof, Berkeley’s assistant vice chancellor for communications, said the university is cooperating with federal investigators.

“Over the course of the last two years, UC Berkeley has been cooperating with federal inquiries regarding [Section] 117 reporting issues, and we will continue to do so,” he said in an email.

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday directing the Secretary of Education to “take appropriate steps to require universities to more specifically disclose details about foreign funding, including the true source and purpose of the funds.”

The order, “Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities,” said transparency is needed to protect “American educational, cultural and national security interests.”

The president also instructed the department to rescind any actions by the Biden administration that would allow universities to “maintain improper secrecy regarding their foreign funding.”

A study released last month by Americans for Public Trust, a center-right watchdog group, found that U.S. universities have received $60 billion in foreign funding over the course of decades, but that many universities either fail to report or under-report such sources.