Investigation prompts schools to report $6.5 billion in undisclosed foreign gifts and contracts

NEW YORK – American Universities failed to report $6.5 billion in foreign gifts and contracts, an investigation by the Department of Education found.

Federal law requires schools to disclose substantial foreign gifts and contracts to the Department of Education twice a year. Many have for years failed to do so, while others severely underreported the income. The deluge of the financial disclosures poured in as the department opened investigations into 12 elite universities.

Universities reported receiving a total of more than $19.6 billion in foreign gifts and contracts from 2014 to 2020, incl...