The CCP Provides Nearly $6 Billion to U.S. Universities, Aiming to Transfer Research Results and Talent to China

June 8, 2025, Cambridge, Massachusetts — Harvard University in Cambridge. (Liu Jingye / The Dajiyuan)

[People News] The U.S. House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party stated on Monday (January 5) that funding provided by China and Hong Kong to U.S. universities has approached $6 billion, “with the purpose of transferring critical research成果, influence, and academic talent to China.”

According to a report by Voice of America, the data come from a new website recently launched by the U.S. Department of Education, ForeignFundingHigherEd.gov. The website was established pursuant to Section 117 of the Higher Education Act and centrally discloses foreign gifts and contracts reported by U.S. universities, with the goal of increasing transparency and making the information accessible to the public, the media, and policymakers.

In a statement released on January 5, the House Select Committee on the CCP said the website’s data show that as of February 28, 2025, China ranked as the fourth-largest foreign source of funding to U.S. universities, with a total exceeding $4 billion. If the $1.9 billion in funding from Hong Kong is included, China rises to become the second-largest funding source, with a combined total approaching $6 billion.

Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, a Republican congressman from Michigan, said in the statement that the website helps reveal foreign influence on U.S. universities.

“Through this portal, we can clearly see that China has provided nearly $6 billion to U.S. universities, with the purpose of transferring critical research成果, influence, and academic talent to China,” Moolenaar said. He praised Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and the Trump administration for their efforts to enhance transparency in university funding.

The committee also called on Congress to pass the Secure American Federal Education Act (SAFE Act) and the Deterring Foreign Interference in Research and Education Act (DETERRENT Act), saying these pieces of legislation would help protect students and taxpayer-funded research projects.

According to the committee, the top three U.S. universities receiving funding from mainland China are New York University, Harvard University, and Stanford University; the top three recipients of funding from Hong Kong are Harvard University, Yale University, and Stanford University.

Congressional Reports Cite Research Security Risks in China-Related Cooperation

The Select Committee on the CCP said that the data disclosed by the new website echo the findings of several previous investigations conducted by the committee. Last year, the committee released multiple investigative reports related to cooperation between U.S. and Chinese universities and research institutions, including Fox in the Henhouse, Joint Institutes, Divided Loyalties, Divided Loyalties, and Ph.D. to PLA.

In the Fox in the Henhouse investigation, the committee said it found more than 1,400 research papers related to Pentagon-funded projects that involved collaboration with Chinese institutions, with a total value exceeding $2.5 billion. Among them, about 800 papers involved what the committee described as CCP defense-related entities.

Another report, titled Joint Institutes, Divided Loyalties, pointed out that joint U.S.-China university programs and research institutions could be exploited by Beijing to accelerate technology transfer, thereby posing risks to U.S. national security. The report said its investigation found dozens of such cooperation projects that were not adequately disclosed.

In the Ph.D. to PLA report, the committee accused the Biden administration of weak enforcement in student visa screening, which allowed some Chinese students with ties to the CCP’s military or defense research institutions to enter U.S. universities and receive higher education and research training funded by U.S. taxpayers.

Department of Education Says Website Aims to Enhance Transparency

The U.S. Department of Education stated that ForeignFundingHigherEd.gov is intended to consolidate and publicly disclose foreign funding information that universities are legally required to report, improve reporting compliance and transparency, and that universities also have a responsibility to ensure the accuracy of their reported information.

Under current law, U.S. universities must report to the Department of Education any gifts or contracts received from the same foreign source that total $250,000 or more within a single year.
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