WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is stepping up work to uncover what it sees as malign foreign influence at US 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. Trump in April 2025 issued an executive order calling for 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.
