The “records request” was sent after a review of reports submitted by the university allegedly showed that foreign funding disclosures were “inaccurate and incomplete,” the department said.
Under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, universities and colleges in the United States receiving financial aid from the federal government are obligated to disclose any gifts, contracts, or restricted agreements from foreign sources that are valued at $250,000 or more in a year.
Colleges and universities should also report any foreign ownership or significant control in their institutions. These measures are in place to protect the country’s higher education from foreign influence.
Despite this obligation, “UPenn has a troubling Section 117 compliance history, having failed to disclose any foreign funding until February of 2019 despite a decades-long statutory obligation to do so,” said Acting General Counsel Tom Wheeler.
“Although the previous Administration degraded the Department’s enforcement of universities’ legal obligations to disclose foreign gifts and contracts, the Trump Administration will vigorously uphold the law and ensure universities are transparent with their foreign gifts and investments.”
The ED sent a letter to UPenn on May 8, informing the university about the investigation.
The department asked the university to produce relevant records within 30 days, which include tax records from January 2017, copies of written agreements with foreign governments or entities detailing admission agreements for international students, and a full list of all foreign gifts, grants, and restricted contracts from January 2017.
The institution must also submit a copy of its written procedures and administrative systems aimed at achieving compliance with the foreign funding disclosure requirements under Section 117.
“OGC will investigate this matter thoroughly, ensuring that universities cannot conceal the infiltration of our nation’s campuses by foreign governments and other foreign interests,” Wheeler said.
“The American people and Congress have a right to know the impact of foreign funding on our universities, including some of our critically important research universities.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the University of Pennsylvania for comment.
This isn’t the first time UPenn is facing scrutiny over foreign funding.
Investigating Universities
The Education Department is investigating the foreign ties of multiple other universities.Previous to this announcement, multiple agencies had asked the university to adopt certain policies to continue receiving federal funding.
This included eliminating DEI initiatives, prioritizing merit over race or gender in hiring and admission, and screening out applicants during the international admission process who are “hostile to American values.”
Harvard refused to conform to these requests.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, the institution said that “over the course of the last two years, UC Berkeley has been cooperating with federal inquiries regarding 117 reporting issues, and will continue to do so.”
