American Universities to Report Foreign Gifts and Contracts Through Modernised Online Portal

The US Department of Education revealed a new website in late 2025, a program that had been under development for a significant while. This technique is aimed at increasing transparency in higher education by tracking foreign financing. The Department is set to launch the portal on January 2, 2026, enabling institutions to report foreign gifts and contracts with greater ease. Foreign funding disclosure under Section 117 requires that universities receiving federal funds disclose to the federal government, each year, foreign gifts and contracts designated at $250,000 or more. The facilities must also be made open for public inspection.

It has been reported that the current reporting portal has remained stagnantly unchanged since the early days of the Trump Administration. Biden did not prioritise the enforcement of Section 117 or even monitoring foreign influence at American universities as the Trump Administration did. Instead, he made this his top budgetary priority and spent time building the new system without seeming to be quite as involved in the other priorities.

Officials actually noted that the portal had already undergone careful internal and external testing by nine universities and was designed after years of comments and feedback from filers at universities. The Department said the new ED reporting system would incorporate several improvements, including being able to submit disclosures in bulk rather than one at a time, providing executive summary visuals to enhance public transparency, and offering tools to assist universities in drafting, reviewing, and submitting disclosures.

The new features will enhance foreign funding transparency by the US higher education system, according to the Department, as well as ensuring compliance with the law. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said that the Trump Administration is particularly creating a state-of-the-art system that allows for more efficient reporting by colleges and universities of their foreign gifts and contracts. According to her, the long-awaited new privacy portal will help these institutions meet their statutory obligations to protect national security through better compliance. Taxpayer-funded institutions have a moral and legal obligation to disclose their international financial relationships. Officials cited Executive Order 14282 on security against foreign influence at American universities in April 2025. With that order, they made it imperative to end the secrecy towards gifts and contracts overseas and to protect the students and research from foreign predation.

According to the Department, the new portal is an important step toward delivering on that promise. The background of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1011f) was also mentioned. This law mandates that foreign source gifts and contracts with values of $250,000 or more annually to the Department must be disclosed biannually. Institutions falling short of compliance are subject to enforcement by the Department of Justice, including civil actions to compel compliance and recover the costs of enforcement.

Officials confirmed that nine universities, including the University of Texas at Austin, MD Anderson, University of Texas Medical Branch, University of Southern California, Pepperdine University, Purdue University, Indiana University, Washington University, and the University of Arizona, had beta-tested the portal over a period of three days during which they provided valuable feedback. Their engagement helped refine the portal's features.

Since January 2025, the Trump Administration has also begun four Section 117 investigations against Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, and the University of California, Berkeley. According to reports, all these universities were accused of failing to disclose foreign funding in a timely and accurate manner. The new US Department of Education launches its improved foreign funding reporting portals in January 2026, and as simply stated, it is doing much toward strengthening future transparency in international academic funding. Modernisation of the system will enable access to reporting tools through which universities can record foreign gifts at the ED portal and compile reports on foreign contracts while ensuring compliance with Section 117 foreign funding rules, thereby strengthening regulatory trust in American higher education concerning foreign contracts.

Editor’s Note:

The launch of the US Department of Education's foreign funding portal essentially welcomes a new era of increased transparency in higher education. The new system, due to go live in January 2026, enables universities to report foreign gifts and contracts in the required manner set out in Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. The Department is modernising a process that has remained static for years by introducing features such as bulk uploading, summary visuals, and better tools for drafting and reviewing reports. Officials noted that nine universities meticulously beta-tested the portal and made refinements based on the input. The project is planned under Executive Order 14282, which creates a national priority out of transparency issues surrounding foreign funding. Notably, since investigative curiosity concerns several other institutions, the initiative arrives in a context where several have faced scrutiny due to noncompliance with overseas reporting. Thus, it strengthens compliance with federal law and is viewed as a new fortification of transparency in foreign funding into U.S. higher education. On a broader scale, the system reflects a growing imperative by which national security and academic integrity are secured by regulating international financial ties in universities. Standing with other essential ED programs that set requirements for recording foreign gifts and foreign contracts reports by institutions, it enhances trust in American higher education as competent in managing foreign influences responsibly.

Skoobuzz underscores that the new portal is more than a technical upgrade; it signals a shift toward more rigorous oversight. This will better equip universities to meet their mandates, providing clearer terms and improved tools for safeguarding students and research from inappropriate foreign influence.

FAQs

1. What is the new foreign funding portal by the US Department of Education?

The new portal is an online system created by the US Department of Education to track foreign gifts and contracts at American universities. It will launch in January 2026 and is designed to make reporting easier, faster, and more transparent.

2. Which institutions need to report foreign gifts and contracts under Section 117?

All postsecondary institutions in the United States that receive federal financial support must report foreign gifts and contracts worth $250,000 or more each year. This rule comes from Section 117 of the Higher Education Act.

3. How to fund foreign education?

Foreign education can be funded through scholarships, student loans, grants, or personal savings. Some students also receive support from government programmes or international organisations.

4. Does the Department of Education fund schools in the USA?

Yes, the US Department of Education provides funding to schools, colleges, and universities through different programmes. It supports public education, student aid, and research, but most funding for schools comes from state and local governments.

5. Why is foreign funding disclosure important for US universities?

Disclosure is important because it ensures transparency and accountability. By reporting foreign gifts and contracts, universities show how international money is used, protect national security, and maintain trust in the higher education system.