Watch-listed foreign groups sent millions to U.S. universities, records show
CBS News found $27.6 million in recent foreign funding tied to entities flagged on federal watch lists, as agencies warn grants could be at risk.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
4 min read
Dozens of leading U.S. research universities reported receiving $27.6 million in foreign funding in roughly the second half of last year from entities that appear on at least one federal watch list, according to a CBS News review of filings submitted to the Department of Education.
State Department and Education Department officials told CBS News the disclosure forms show money from companies and organizations flagged across 10 cautionary and restricted lists run by the Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security, Defense and State departments. Those lists identify entities that officials say merit extra scrutiny because of links to foreign government interests.
The Trump administration is now pressing universities over partnerships it says could raise national security concerns. On Wednesday, Sarah B. Rogers, the State Department’s under secretary for public diplomacy, sent a letter to the governing boards of 187 Research-1 universities, the institutions with the highest research activity.
In the letter obtained by CBS News, Rogers said future grant-making agencies will check whether schools accept money from foreign entities on U.S. watch lists, and warned that federal funding could be pulled.
China-linked aviation firm paid three schools
One set of filings reviewed by CBS News shows research institutes tied to Aviation Engine Corporation of China, known as AECC, paid Northwestern University, the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Connecticut a combined $7.8 million over several years.
AECC develops engines for Chinese military aircraft, including the J-11 fighter jet and Z-10 attack helicopter, according to company materials cited by CBS News. The Treasury Department lists AECC on the Foreign Assets Control List and another list of companies tied to China’s military-industrial complex. The Commerce Department also classifies it as a military end-user entity, making it subject to strict export licensing rules.
Northwestern received more than $3 million from AECC research institutes between 2017 and 2021, according to the filings. The documents do not say what the money funded, and Northwestern did not respond to multiple CBS News requests for comment.
UC Irvine received nearly $4 million in contracts between 2018 and 2020, the records show. The university did not respond to CBS News requests for comment. The University of Connecticut received nearly $800,000 in contracts spanning 2018 and 2021, and a UConn spokesperson told CBS News the school is looking into the purpose of the funding.
CBS News said its call to AECC reached an automated message saying the party was temporarily unavailable, and a social media request for comment was not answered.
Other contracts draw scrutiny
The largest single amount described in the records was a $22.6 million, 50-year contract disclosed in 2020 between Beijing Institute of Technology and Bryant University in Rhode Island. The filings said the money was for a jointly operated academic program in China. CBS News reported that Beijing Institute of Technology appears on two watch lists, and that Bryant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
UC Berkeley has received more than $25 million in contracts since 2016 from China-based entities on U.S. watch lists, according to Education Department disclosures reviewed by CBS News. That includes a $7.6 million grant from Sun Yat-sen University, which hosts China’s National Supercomputing Center and appears on Defense and Commerce Department lists.
UC Berkeley told CBS News it was still analyzing and fact-checking the claims. A spokesperson said the university “complies with all of the statues and regulations that apply to contracts and gifts from foreign sources.”
Universities have had to report foreign gifts of $250,000 or more under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act since 1986. Current and former officials, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and independent analysts told CBS News enforcement has been inconsistent, with no routine cross-check against federal watch lists.
Foreign funding to U.S. universities reached $1.5 billion in 2022, according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. That was less than 2% of the $117 billion in U.S. university research and development funding that year, more than half of which came from the federal government.
The National Science Foundation said in a July 8 letter that its funds may not be spent on collaborations with entities on U.S. restricted party lists. NASA has also frozen active grants flagged as potentially involving prohibited cooperation with China or Chinese-owned entities while allegations are reviewed, a NASA spokesperson told CBS News.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.