WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of 26 academic, policy, and civil society organizations called on Congress in May 2026 to address foreign money flows into American universities. The House of Representatives passed the DETERRENT Act twice with bipartisan support in 2026, but the Senate did not pass the legislation.

The DETERRENT Act would lower the foreign gift reporting threshold from $250,000 to $50,000. It would set the reporting threshold to zero for countries and entities identified as concerning and require the disclosure of gifts made to individual faculty and staff. The bill also introduces financial penalties for non-compliance, including the potential loss of eligibility for federal student aid, and establishes a publicly searchable database for foreign gifts to universities.

Charles Asher Small, Founding Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, stated, "The coalition is right." He added, "Congress needs to act now by strengthening and modernizing the law where it clearly falls short."

Previous investigations have identified issues with foreign gift reporting. A 2019 Senate investigation by the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that nearly 70 percent of U.S. schools receiving more than $250,000 from Chinese government-linked Confucius Institutes failed to report that amount to the Department of Education. That investigation also found that China provided $158 million in funding to U.S. schools for Confucius Institutes between 2006 and the report's publication.

In 2019, ISGAP's "Follow the Money" findings identified billions of dollars in Middle Eastern funding, primarily from Qatar, to U.S. universities that had not been reported to the Department of Education. A 2020 Department of Education review identified over $6.5 billion in previously unreported foreign funding at multiple institutions. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021 restricted Department of Defense funding to institutions of higher education that host a Confucius Institute.