Pentagon orders 30 universities to review foreign ties or risk research funding

The Defense Department is ordering 30 American universities to review ties to foreign entities regarded as national security threats if they want to remain eligible for federal research funding.

The move is aimed at protecting U.S. government-funded research from unauthorized technology transfers, intellectual property theft and exploitation by adversaries, the department said in a statement Monday.

The universities ordered to conduct audits were not named in the statement. However, Fox News published what it said was a full list of the institutions, citing an unidentified U.S. official.

Georgetown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at San Diego, the University of Texas at Austin, Emory University and Harvard University were among those identified by Fox.

The universities have until Aug. 31 to review their foreign ties and report their findings.

“The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security,” said Emil Michael, undersecretary for research and engineering, whose office issued the directive.

President Donald Trump last year authorized the Defense Department to be renamed the Department of War, although its statutory name remains the same.

The directive is part of a broader effort to safeguard military-funded research from foreign influence. Congress expanded research security requirements in the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, requiring annual reviews of samples of Defense Department research grants for compliance with Pentagon policies.

The universities are being asked to review academic, financial and research ties with foreign entities identified under Section 1286 of the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, as well as with organizations associated with rebranded Confucius Institutes.

Confucius Institutes were Chinese government-supported language and cultural programs established at universities around the world, including in the United States.

Many U.S. universities closed the institutes amid federal scrutiny over concerns about Chinese government influence, although federal officials have said some programs continued under different names or organizational structures.

The Pentagon’s latest Section 1286 list, released in July, identifies 130 academic and research institutions in China, Russia and Iran.

The U.S. government says they have engaged in activities that increase the risk that government-funded research and development could be misappropriated or subjected to foreign government interference.

To remain eligible for future federal research funding, the universities must assess whether sensitive or export-controlled research has been exposed and address any problems through steps such as canceling problematic partnerships, the Pentagon said.

Federal officials have warned for years that foreign governments, particularly China, have sought access to U.S. research and technology through universities and government-funded researchers.

China accounted for 570 of 657 allegations of improper foreign influence investigated by the National Institutes of Health as of November 2024, the Government Accountability Office said in a January report.