Foreign Gift Reporting

U.S. colleges and universities that receive charitable gifts from a foreign source, the value of which is $250,000 or more within a calendar year, must file a disclosure report with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education twice a year. Additional disclosures are required for restricted or conditional gifts/contracts and for institutions that are owned or controlled by a foreign entity.

The reports are due on January 31 and July 31, whichever is sooner. The reporting requirements fall under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. This federal foreign gift reporting requirement was enacted more than thirty years ago. However, the Department of Education has never issued formal regulations for the requirement, leaving institutions to rely on subregulatory guidance and related materials to comply with the requirement. 

The Department of Education has an online reporting system through which institutions must submit their Section 117 information. That information is posted for the public on a recently revamped portal that went live at the beginning of 2026. 

How to Report

Institutions must submit their foreign gift reports through the online reporting system available at https://www.foreignfundinghighered.gov/. The Department released the following resources to help institutions use the new portal: 

See the Department’s Disclosure Reporting resource, specifically pages 6-7, to understand what information must be reported. Advancement staff should coordinate with their president/chancellor's, financial aid and/or chief financial officer's office when submitting the form. 

At the end of this page is Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which outlines the disclosure requirements and the information that institutions must include in their disclosure reports, along with additional resources. Background information and additional resources related to Section 117 can be found on the Department’s website.

Legislative and Regulatory Issues on Foreign Gift Reporting

In recent years, colleges and universities have faced increased scrutiny over foreign gifts because of national security concerns at the Department and in Congress as policymakers have grown more hawkish about foreign influence in higher education. 

In April 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order on foreign gifts to higher education directing the Secretary of Education to employ robust enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, through both the reversal and rescindment of certain actions taken by the prior administration and through audits and investigations into institutions of higher education. 

In addition to releasing the updated public portal to increase transparency of foreign gifts and contracts, the Department of Education announced a new interagency partnership with the U.S. Department of State in February 2026 to support ED’s enforcement of Section 117 compliance by colleges and universities. Observers have said this partnership signals more heightened enforcement on Section 117 disclosures, which has already ticked up in recent years. 

Since 2019, ED has initiated 23 Section 117 compliance reviews, eight of which were still open investigations at the end of 2025. Of those eight, half were initiated around or since the time of President Trump’s EO. 

This increased focus has not yielded formal regulations. In May 2023, the Education Department sought public comments on the reporting requirements in Section 117 as the Department considered changes to the disclosures. Formal rulemaking based on that feedback was not undertaken. However, the Department of Education continues to include Section 117 regulations on its priority list for intended rulemaking. 

In recent years, those in higher education have encouraged the Department to undertake a formal rulemaking process for Section 117, which would offer stakeholders a better opportunity to engage with the process and greater clarity for impacted institutions. 

Higher education associations and institutions have sought further clarification of the rules for which formal regulations have never been issued. Guidance is needed with regard to:

  • gift reporting,
  • definition of a gift,
  • gifts to Institutionally Related Foundations and other affiliated entities,
  • restricted/conditional gift disclosure, and
  • filing missed or amended reports.

Without further clarification from the Department of Education, it is difficult, if not impossible, for colleges and universities to comply fully with the requirements of Section 117.

In Congress, lawmakers have introduced legislation to lower the foreign gift reporting requirement threshold. In early 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1048, the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, in a bipartisan vote. This bill, introduced by Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA), would lower the Section 117 reporting threshold to $50,000 for any foreign source and eliminate the threshold entirely for any “foreign country of concern,” including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. 

The bill (S. 1296) was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC). As of April 2026, no Democrats have cosponsored the bill. Without the support of some Democratic lawmakers, the bill would be unable to clear the Senate filibuster and pass. Republican backers of the bill could look to incorporate it into a larger legislative package, such as annual must-pass defense legislation. 

If the bill does not pass in 2026, which appears to be the most likely outcome, supporters would be expected to reintroduce the bill in 2027 and continue to push for its passage in the 120th Congress.

Resources

Section 117 of the Higher Education Act - Disclosure of Foreign Gifts

Whenever any institution is owned or controlled by a foreign source or receives a gift from or enters into a contract with a foreign source, the value of which is $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with that foreign source within a calendar year, the institution shall file a disclosure report with the Secretary on January 31 or July 31, whichever is sooner.

Each report to the Secretary required by this section shall contain the following:

  1. For gifts received from or contracts entered into with a foreign source other than a foreign government, the aggregate dollar amount of such gifts and contacts attributable to a particular country. The country to which a gift is attributable si the country of citizenship, or if unknown, the principal residence for a foreign source who is a natural person, and the country of incorporation, or if unknown, the principal place of business, for a foreign source which is a legal entity.
  2. For gifts received from or contracts entered into with a foreign government, the aggregate amount of such gifts and contracts received from each foreign government.
  3. In the case of an institution which is owned or controlled by a foreign source, the identity of the foreign source, the date on which the foreign source assumed ownership or control, and any changes in program or structure resulting from the change in ownership or control.

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b), whenever any institution receives a restricted or conditional gift or contract from a foreign source, the institution shall disclose the following:

  1. For such gifts received from or contracts entered into with a foreign source other than a foreign government, the amount, the date, and a description of such conditions or restrictions. The report shall also disclose the country of citizenship, or if unknown, the principal residence for a foreign source which is a natural person, and the country of incorporation, or if unknown, the principal place of business for a foreign source which is a legal entity.
  2. For gifts received from or contracts entered into with a foreign government, the amount, the date, a description of such conditions or restrictions, and the name of the foreign government.
  1. State Requirements

If an institution described under subsection (a) is within a State which has enacted requirements for public disclosure of gifts from or contracts with a foreign source that are substantially similar to the requirements of this section, a copy of the disclosure report filed with the State may be filed with the Secretary in lieu of a report required under subsection (a). The State in which the institution is located shall provide to the Secretary such assurances as the Secretary may require to establish that the institution has met the requirements for public disclosure under State law if the State report is filed.

2. Use of Other Federal Reports

If an institution receives a gift from, or enters into a contract with, a foreign source, where any other department, agency, or bureau of the executive branch requires a report containing requirements substantially similar to those required under this section, a copy of the report may be filed with the Secretary in lieu of a report required under subsection (a).

All disclosure reports required by this section shall be public records open to inspection and copying during business hours.

  1. Court Orders

Whenever it appears that an institution has failed to comply with the requirements of this section, including any rule or regulation promulgated under this section, a civil action may be brought by the Attorney General, at the request of the Secretary, in an appropriate district court of the United States, or the appropriate United States court of any territory or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to request such court to compel compliance with the requirements of this section

2. Costs

For knowing or willful failure to comply with the requirements of this section, including any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, an institution shall pay to the Treasury of the United States the full costs to the United States of obtaining compliance, including all associated costs of investigation and enforcement.

The Secretary may promulgate regulations to carry out this section.

For the purpose of this section -

1. the term "contract" means any agreement for the acquisition by purchase, lease, or barter of property or services by the foreign source, for the direct benefit or use of either of the parties;

2. the term "foreign source" means-
     (A) a foreign government, including an agency of a foreign government;
     (B) a legal entity, governmental or otherwise, created solely under the laws of a foreign state or states;
     (C) an individual who is not a citizen or a national of the United States or a trust territory or protectorate thereof; and
     (D) an agent, including a subsidiary or affiliate of a foreign legal entity, acting on behalf of a foreign source;

3. the term "gift" means any gift of money or property;

4. the term "institution" means any institution, public or private, or, if a multicampus institution, any single campus of such institution, in any State, that-
     (A) is legally authorized within such State to provide a program of education beyond secondary school;
     (B) provides a program for which the institution awards a bachelor's degree (or provides not less than a 2-year program which is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree) or more advanced degrees; and
     (C) is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association and to which institution Federal financial assistance is extended (directly or indirectly through another entity or  person), or which institution receives support from the extension of Federal financial assistance to  any of the institution's subunits; and

5. the term "restricted or conditional gift or contract" means any endowment, gift, grant, contract,  award, present, or property of any kind which includes provisions regarding-
     (A) the employment, assignment, or termination of faculty;
     (B) the establishment of departments, centers, research or lecture programs, or new faculty  positions;
     (C) the selection or admission of students; or
     (D) the award of grants, loans, scholarships, fellowships, or other forms of financial aid restricted to students of a specified country, religion, sex, ethnic origin, or political opinion.

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