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Colleges and universities would have to report more foreign gifts and could lose access to federal financial aid if they don’t comply under a new bill from two House Republicans.
Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, who chairs the House education committee, and Representative Michelle Steel of California are proposed to lower the threshold for reporting foreign gifts from $250,000 to $50,000. Colleges and universities also would be barred from entering into contracts with “countries of concern,” according to a bill summary.
The bill is the first in a series aimed at reforming the Higher Education Act of 1965, according to a news release. The act was last updated in 2007.
Section 117 of the Higher Education Act requires colleges and universities to disclose all foreign gifts and contracts totaling $250,000 or more twice a year. The Trump administration stepped up enforcement of that provision. Foxx and others have criticized the Biden administration’s approach, which they view as lax. Administration officials have defended their enforcement efforts.
The Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act would also require universities to disclose gifts to staff and faculty at research-heavy institutions. Private institutions would have to report any foreign investments in their endowments if the endowment is above $6 billion, among other changes proposed in the bill.
“Postsecondary education in America has been compromised,” Foxx and Steel said in a joint statement. “Malignant foreign entities, like the Chinese Communist Party, have taken root at colleges and universities by simply flashing their checkbooks and opening the floodgates to an endless stream of cash—every dollar comes with strings attached. The DETERRENT Act is our prescription to unleash accountability, transparency, and much-needed clarity into a system that has allowed foreign actors to entice well-meaning institutions and boldly partner with other shameless institutions to work against the interests of the American people.”
