Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) sent a formal letter Monday to Education Secretary Linda McMahon calling for an investigation into Harvard University’s financial ties to China, citing newly published data showing the Ivy League school has taken in more foreign money than any other college in the country.
Harvard received nearly $4.5 billion in foreign funding across 7,089 reported transactions, according to a revamped reporting portal launched by the U.S. Department of Education this year. Of that total, $634 million came from countries the federal government classifies as national security concerns, including China, Russia, and Venezuela.
Chinese entities alone sent more than $630 million to Harvard, Cotton wrote, including roughly $418,000 from organizations tied to foreign talent recruitment programs and nearly $420,000 from entities connected to unauthorized military development.
“I remain concerned that millions in additional transactions with sanctioned Chinese entities may not have been reported,” Cotton wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News. “Therefore, I encourage additional scrutiny of financial ties between American universities and Communist China.”
The broader picture is significant. Since the Education Department’s portal was relaunched in January, data shows that federally funded universities accepted more than $6.8 billion from Communist China, including more than $300 million from sanctioned entities.
Four Chinese institutions rank among the top five foreign funders on U.S. government watch lists, collectively sending approximately $119 million to American universities: Beijing Institute of Technology, Air China Ltd., Huawei Technologies Co., and Ocean University of China.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced the portal overhaul last year, attributing the lapsed oversight to the Biden administration.
“After years of neglect by the Biden Administration, the new portal will assist our institutions of higher education in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities and enable us to protect our national security by facilitating improved compliance,” McMahon said in a statement.
“America’s taxpayer-funded colleges and universities have both a moral and legal obligation to be fully transparent with the U.S. government and the American people about their foreign financial relationships,” she added.
Harvard’s foreign funding extends beyond China. Russia has sent more than $750,000 to the university, and Venezuela has provided $3.3 million.
