Trump administration opens investigation into foreign funding at UC Berkeley

Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Friday ordered her department's legal team to conduct an investigation into whether the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) has complied with laws that require schools to report large foreign donations.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week that tightened reporting rules regarding foreign funding, but prior rules required colleges and universities to report foreign gifts of more than $250,000.

McMahon said her department's Office of General Counsel will now be responsible for enforcing the reporting rules.

"The Biden-Harris Administration turned a blind eye to colleges and universities’ legal obligations by deprioritizing oversight and allowing foreign gifts to pour onto American campuses," McMahon said. "Despite widespread compliance failures, no new Section 117 investigations were initiated for four years, and ongoing investigations were closed prematurely.

"I have great confidence in my Office of General Counsel to investigate these matters fully, and they will begin by thoroughly examining UC Berkeley’s apparent failure to fully and accurately disclose significant funding received from foreign sources," she added.

The new target comes after UC Berkeley reportedly failed to disclose $220 million in 2023 that it received from China, which the school admitted occurred because it misunderstood its "legal duty to disclose that funding," per Fox News.

The Education Department is also reportedly looking into Harvard's foreign funding, and initiated a records request to the school for foreign funding last week. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.