President Donald Trump’s Education Department opened an investigation into the University of Michigan’s foreign funding on Tuesday, weeks after two Chinese nationals with ties to the university were charged by the Department of Justice for smuggling biohazards into the United States.
Michigan has a “history of downplaying its vulnerabilities to malign foreign influence” and “recent reports reveal that UM’s research laboratories remain vulnerable to sabotage,” according to the Education Department’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) Chief Investigative Counsel Paul Moore. The Department of Education said that it will look into whether UM is in compliance with federal law after “a review of the university’s foreign reports revealed inaccurate and incomplete disclosures.”
“Unfortunately, tens of millions of dollars in foreign funding in UM’s disclosure reports have been reported in an untimely manner and appear to erroneously identify some of UM’s foreign funders as ‘nongovernmental entities,’ even though the foreign funders seem to be directly affiliated with foreign governments,” Moore said. “OGC will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that the American people know the true scope of foreign funding and influence on our campuses.”
The Education Department is demanding that UM hand over tax records, documents, and lists of all gifts detailing any agreement with foreign governments within 30 days. The Trump administration also wants the names and contact information “of all university research personnel and contract personnel, undergraduate and graduate, involved in bilateral or multilateral research collaborations with non-U.S. research institutions.”
“Today’s investigation into UM reflects the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to hold colleges and universities accountable for failing to comply with federal disclosure laws on foreign funding, consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities,” the department stated.
Last month, two Chinese scholars at the university were arrested and charged by the DOJ for attempting to smuggle “biological materials” that could potentially wipe out crops into a laboratory at Michigan. The DOJ said the arrests are “part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security.” Michigan, which boasts of being one of the top public research schools in the world, said last month that it was “actively reviewing all relevant policies” after the arrests of the Chinese nationals.
FBI Director Kash Patel called the arrests “a sobering reminder that the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences… putting American lives and our economy at serious risk.”
Earlier this year, UM ended its partnership with the Chinese Shanghai Jiao Tong University over national security concerns after the FBI said that five Chinese UM students attempted to mislead investigators about a suspicious late-night trip they took to a Michigan military base in 2023.
