The University of Pennsylvania is under federal investigation for failing to properly report millions in foreign funding, the Department of Education announced Thursday, May 8. In a formal letter, the department accused the Ivy League institution of submitting “incomplete, inaccurate, and untimely disclosures,” violating its legal obligation under the Higher Education Act of 1965, according to reporting from the Washington Free Beacon.
As a recipient of federal funds, the university must report all foreign gifts or contracts exceeding $250,000. According to the Education Department’s Office of the General Counsel, Penn’s record of noncompliance is “a source of tremendous concern.” The university reportedly failed to submit any foreign funding disclosures until February 2019, despite having received substantial overseas contributions.
The federal probe follows President Donald Trump’s recent executive order targeting foreign influence in U.S. higher education. The order requires universities to report the sources and purposes of all foreign funding, with noncompliance risking the loss of federal support.
Between February 2019 and June 2020, the University of Pennsylvania filed 692 disclosures—over 25 percent of which were listed as anonymous. These anonymous entries accounted for roughly $80 million. The letter also noted that Penn had “frequently masked the identity of foreign donors who had engaged in particularly large qualifying transactions.”
A report from Americans for Public Trust revealed that Penn received $2.5 billion in foreign funding in recent decades. That figure trails only Harvard and Cornell, which received $3.2 billion and $2.8 billion respectively. A significant portion of this funding originated from China and Arab states.
Notably, Penn’s foreign funding surged 542 percent following the 2018 launch of the Penn Biden Center, founded by then-former Vice President Joe Biden. This explosive increase has intensified scrutiny from federal regulators and conservative watchdogs.
The Trump administration has framed the investigation as a matter of national security. “For far too long, foreign funds have flowed to U.S. colleges and universities with inadequate transparency or oversight,” the White House stated in an April 23 fact sheet. “Undisclosed foreign funding raises serious concerns about potential foreign influence, national security risks, and compromised academic integrity.”
