Foreign funding to United States colleges crossed the $5.2 billion mark in 2025, according to data released by the US Department of Education. More than half of this amount went to a small group of elite institutions, with Carnegie Mellon University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the top of the list.The department also launched a new public portal to track these inflows, describing it in a press release as an effort to increase transparency and simplify institutional compliance with federal disclosure rules. The numbers are large.
A new federal lens on foreign money
Under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, universities that receive federal funding must report foreign gifts and contracts worth 250,000 US dollars or more in a year.The Education Department said in its press release that institutions reported more than 8,300 transactions in 2025 alone, taking the total disclosed foreign funding since 1986 to 67.6 billion US dollars.On April 23, 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities. The order called for tighter monitoring of overseas funding and framed disclosure as a national security issue.Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in the press release that the new portal gives the public “unprecedented visibility” into foreign funding and makes it easier for universities to meet legal obligations.The administrative mechanism is about reporting. The long-term effect is about how universities structure global ties.
The five universities at the top
According to the department’s data:
- Carnegie Mellon University received close to 1 billion US dollars
- MIT received close to 1 billion US dollars
- Stanford University received more than 775 million US dollars
- Harvard University received more than 324 million US dollars
Together, these institutions accounted for a large share of the total inflow.The department also said in its press statement that from 1986 to 2025, Harvard received the highest amount of funding from entities based in what the federal government classifies as countries of concern.Federal authorities have opened inquiries into Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley over alleged gaps in disclosure. These inquiries are still part of an ongoing process.
Where the money came from
Qatar was the largest single source, with more than 1.1 billion US dollars in reported funding.It was followed by:
- United Kingdom with more than 633 million US dollars
- China with more than 528 million US dollars
- Switzerland with more than 451 million US dollars
- Japan with more than 374 million US dollars
Qatar hosts branch campuses of several US universities, including Carnegie Mellon. The university recently renewed its agreement there for another decade, according to a Bloomberg report.These arrangements are not new. What has changed is the degree of federal scrutiny and the way such partnerships are now being read through a security framework.
What this means for universities
For universities, foreign funding supports laboratories, faculty positions, student scholarships and overseas campuses.When disclosure rules tighten and investigations increase, institutions must invest more administrative capacity in compliance. Over time, this can influence which international partnerships are considered stable and which are seen as risky.A funding stream is not only a financial input. It also shapes research agendas, mobility programmes and the geography of global campuses.
The longer policy arc
The Education Department said in its press release that the portal is meant to streamline reporting. The executive order that preceded it was framed around protecting research and students from foreign exploitation.This signals a shift in how cross-border academic collaboration is evaluated. Financial flows that were once treated primarily as institutional resources are now also treated as strategic data.The immediate effect is greater disclosure. The slower effect is a change in how universities design international engagement.
The signals to watch
The current data release is not only a financial record. It is a baseline for future action.The next phase will depend on three indicators:
- whether disclosure leads to funding restrictions or only monitoring
- how investigations into universities translate into compliance rules
- whether institutions begin to reduce or restructure overseas partnerships
For students and researchers, the consequences will not appear in a single announcement. They will appear in the form of new approval processes, delayed collaborations, redesigned exchange programmes and shifts in where research funding comes from.Foreign funding built many of the global pathways that define US higher education today. The new transparency framework will determine how many of those pathways remain open, and under what conditions.
