The Department of Education has opened an investigation into the University of California, Berkeley, after it failed to disclose its foreign gifts and contracts.
“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. Despite widespread compliance failures, no new Section 117 investigations were initiated for four years, and ongoing investigations were closed prematurely,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “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.”
McMahon’s statement follows President Trump’s recent executive order demanding transparency regarding U.S. higher education institutions’ foreign funding.
“Protecting American educational, cultural, and national security interests requires transparency regarding foreign funds flowing to American higher education and research institutions,” the order says, adding that it is the Trump administration’s policy 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.”
According to a 2023 letter from the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, UC Berkeley collaborated with Tsinghua University in China, sparking concerns that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) had “easy access to Berkeley research and expertise, which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can then use to its economic, technological, and military advantage.”
“Despite this extensive collaboration, publicly available information suggests that Berkeley has failed to disclose properly its contracts with its PRC partners as required by law,” the letter added.
