US universities fight scrutiny of foreign funding in Senate China bill
- Under the initial bipartisan proposals, colleges would face national security reviews of some of their overseas transactions
- Lawmakers are still negotiating how the US government should monitor foreign donations, particularly from China, to American campuses
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Michael Stratford on politico.com on May 27, 2021.
Colleges and universities are rushing to fend off a new round of federal scrutiny of their foreign dealings as the Senate negotiates last-minute changes to bipartisan legislation aimed at countering China’s economic influence and power.
Higher education groups have cheered on the massive boost to science and technology research in the bill, which is a top priority for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that he was pushing to finish this week.
But universities are fighting a range of provisions that would impose new federal controls on foreign donations to US campuses and contracts that schools have with partner institutions or other entities abroad.
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Democrats and Republicans on Thursday were also still negotiating changes over how to structure a key portion of how the US government would set up new mechanisms to monitor foreign donations, particularly from China, to American campuses.
Under the initial bipartisan proposals, universities would face national security reviews of some of their foreign transactions and they would have to publicly disclose more about the funding they receive from abroad. Some research universities also would be required to create a database of the foreign gifts and contracts that individual faculty and staff receive.