Executive order

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose and Policy. Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. 1011f, requires institutions of higher education to report significant sources of foreign funding. But, because section 117 has not been robustly enforced, the true amounts, sources, and purposes of foreign money flowing to American campuses are unknown. From 2010 to 2016, according to one study, universities failed to disclose more than half of reportable foreign gifts. Even when foreign funding is reported, its true sources are often hidden.

Protecting American educational, cultural, and national security interests requires transparency regarding foreign funds flowing to American higher education and research institutions. During my first term, the Department of Education opened investigations on 19 campuses from 2019-2021, which led universities to report $6.5 billion in previously undisclosed foreign funds. Yet the prior administration undid this work, moving the Department of Education’s specialized investigatory work on foreign funds to a unit ill-equipped to perform it, undermining investigations, and hindering public access to information on foreign gifts and contracts.

It is the policy of my Administration to end the secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions, protect the marketplace of ideas from propaganda sponsored by foreign governments, and safeguard America’s students and research from foreign exploitation.

Sec. 2. Robust Enforcement to Prevent Harm to American Interests. The Secretary of Education (Secretary) shall take all appropriate actions to enforce the requirements of section 1011f of title 20, United States Code, including by working with the Attorney General and the heads of other executive departments, agencies, and offices, where appropriate, to require complete and timely disclosure by higher education institutions of foreign funding. These actions shall include the following:

(a) the Secretary shall take appropriate steps to reverse or rescind any actions by the prior administration that permit higher education institutions to maintain improper secrecy regarding their foreign funding;