The University of Michigan secretly pocketed over $270 million in foreign funding from 38 countries while systematically deceiving federal investigators about the true sources and scope of these payments.
Story Highlights
- Federal investigation launched after UM failed to properly report $270+ million in foreign funding from 38 countries over a decade
- Department of Education discovered incomplete, inaccurate, and untimely disclosures that violated federal transparency laws
- Investigation connected to recent arrests of Chinese scientists at UM for smuggling biological materials
- Trump administration’s April 2025 executive order mandated stricter enforcement of university foreign funding disclosure rules
- UM faces 30-day deadline to provide tax records, agreements, and personnel lists to federal investigators
Federal Probe Exposes Massive Foreign Funding Deception
The U.S. Department of Education opened a formal investigation into the University of Michigan on July 15, 2025, after discovering systematic failures to accurately report foreign contributions totaling over $270 million. According to federal investigators, UM deliberately misidentified foreign government-linked funders as “nongovernmental entities” and consistently submitted incomplete disclosures over the past decade.
Paul R. Moore, Chief Investigative Counsel for the Department of Education’s Office of the General Counsel, is leading the probe under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. This law requires universities to disclose foreign gifts and contracts of $250,000 or more annually, a requirement UM apparently treated as optional rather than mandatory.
Chinese Influence Operations Under Scrutiny
The investigation gained urgency following recent criminal charges against Chinese scientists affiliated with UM for smuggling biological materials. These arrests exposed vulnerabilities in research security and raised serious questions about foreign espionage operations targeting American academic institutions. The timing suggests federal authorities are connecting the dots between undisclosed foreign funding and potential national security threats.
Federal data reveals that funding sources include China, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong, countries with documented histories of intellectual property theft and academic espionage. The scale and geographic diversity of these funding streams indicate a coordinated effort to gain access to American research capabilities while evading transparency requirements designed to protect national interests.
Trump Administration Cracks Down on Academic Corruption
President Trump’s April 23, 2025 executive order mandated stricter enforcement of foreign funding disclosure rules, directly targeting the academic establishment’s cozy relationships with hostile foreign powers. This investigation represents exactly the kind of aggressive oversight that American taxpayers deserve, especially when universities receiving federal research funding simultaneously take millions from countries that actively work against American interests.
The Department of Education’s action sends a clear message that the days of universities operating as unaccountable middlemen for foreign influence operations are over. UM now faces a 30-day deadline to provide comprehensive documentation including tax records, written agreements, and personnel lists for all foreign collaborations, a requirement that should have been standard practice all along.
Taxpayer-Funded Institution Serves Foreign Masters
The irony cannot be overstated: UM receives over $2 billion annually in research expenditures, much of it from American taxpayers, while secretly accepting hundreds of millions from foreign governments. This represents a fundamental betrayal of public trust and raises legitimate questions about whose interests these institutions actually serve.
The investigation may expand if additional unreported foreign contributions are uncovered, which seems likely given the pattern of deception already documented. Federal officials have publicly criticized UM’s transparency failures and highlighted the institution’s vulnerability to foreign influence and research security threats, concerns that any reasonable observer would share given the evidence.
Sources:
Campus Reform – UMich accepted $270M in foreign funds, Campus Reform audit finds; feds launch probe
The Daily Wire – University Of Michigan Under Federal Investigation Over Receiving Foreign Funding
Inside Higher Ed – ED launches investigation into Michigan’s foreign funding
Bridge Michigan – U-M faces federal investigation after arrest of 2 Chinese scientists
