Trump Issues Executive Order Aimed At Foreign Influence On American Campuses

On April 23, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at increasing transparency with respect to foreign funding at U.S. colleges and universities. This move comes in response to what the Administration has described as years of underreporting and obfuscation involving significant and increasing foreign fundings at these institutions. In a fact sheet accompanying the Order, the Administration noted that approximately $60 billion in foreign gifts and contracts have flowed into U.S. universities in recent decades.

The Order directs the Secretary of Education to:

• Reverse or rescind any actions undertaken by the prior Administration that permit higher education institutions to obscure details of their foreign funding sources;