The Trump administration is stepping up work to uncover what it sees as malign foreign influence at U.S. colleges and universities, officials said on Monday as they announced that the State Department would assist the Department of Education in that effort.

President Donald Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to universities over issues such as pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s war in Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, raising free speech and academic freedom concerns.

In April 2025, Trump issued an executive order calling for the enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which requires colleges that receive federal funding to report gifts or contracts worth more than $250,000 from any foreign source, and the Department of Education, in December, launched a new portal for universities to report that funding.

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers said the State Department’s new role would “ensure an invigorated compliance assurance effort by the federal government.”

“The Department of State will be applying our national security expertise and our expertise countering foreign malign influence to bolster oversight efforts by the Department of Education,” Rogers told reporters in a briefing at the State Department.

Officials declined to spell out specific examples of how foreign funding had unduly influenced higher education institutions, and said they were primarily seeking to boost compliance by the universities and improve transparency.

The US Senate subcommittee on investigations in 2019 issued a report documenting China’s impact on the US education system, sparking renewed enforcement of the disclosure rules.

US colleges and universities disclosed 8,300 transactions totaling $5.2 billion in 2025, which includes funding from governments as well as private companies and individuals, the education department said in a statement.

The largest source of funding last year was Qatar ($1.1 billion), followed by Britain ($633 million) and China ($528 million), it said.