The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC) has opened an investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) after the university was caught accepting, and failing to disclose, sources of foreign funding.
UM has long been linked to Chinese entities. In January 2025, the university ended that OGC called a “two-decade-long partnership” with a leading Chinese university following congressional concerns on the matter. The university has also been involved in a controversy surrounding Chinese nationals smuggling biological materials into the United States for use at UM laboratories.
U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said at the time that the actions were “of the gravest national security concerns.”
Despite ending its partnership with one Chinese university, UM continues to “engage in substantial research collaborations with Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, and Zhejiang University – all universities deeply involved in China’s emerging science and technology research efforts directly linked to military programs,” a letter sent to the university reads.
“Despite the University of Michigan’s history of downplaying its vulnerabilities to malign foreign influence, recent reports reveal that UM’s research laboratories remain vulnerable to sabotage, including what the U.S. Department of Justice recently described in criminal charges as ‘potential agroterrorism’ by Chinese nationals affiliated with UM,” said Chief Investigative Counsel Paul Moore. “As the recipient of federal research funding, UM has both a moral and legal obligation to be completely transparent about its foreign partnerships.”
“Unfortunately, tens of millions of dollars in foreign funding in UM’s disclosure reports have been reported in an untimely manner and appear to erroneously identify some of UM’s foreign funders as ‘nongovernmental entities,’ even though the foreign funders seem to be directly affiliated with foreign governments,” Moore added. “OGC will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that the American people know the true scope of foreign funding and influence on our campuses.”
