How Colleges Responded to DOD’s Foreign Partnerships Order

The Trump administration’s decision to expand the number of foreign academic and research institutions that are considered off-limits for research partnerships has ended at least one study abroad program and triggered reviews at more than two dozen universities.

The Department of Defense can’t use “any funds for fundamental research that involves collaboration” with the entities included on what’s known as the Section 1286 list, which identifies institutions “confirmed to be engaging in activities that threaten U.S. national security interests,” according to the agency. That ban also extends to colleges that receive federal funding, according to DOD, and failure to comply could threaten that money.

After updating the Section 1286 list in July and adding several major research universities in China, DOD told 30 colleges to review their partnerships with institutions on the list and terminate any “problematic” relationships. Currently, 130 academic and research institutions located in China, Iran and Russia are off-limits for collaboration.

DOD said in an Aug. 17 news release that the audit request went to colleges and universities with active ties and collaborations with foreign entities on the list, “as well as organizations associated with rebranded Confucius Institutes.”

To maintain eligibility for research funding, the universities had to conduct the audit and report their findings by Aug. 31. The department told Inside Higher Ed last week that all 30 responded; officials are reviewing the responses “to ensure compliance with strengthened research security standards.”

Department officials have said the review “is designed to protect American taxpayer-funded research investments from unauthorized technology transfer, intellectual property theft and adversarial exploitation.”

The American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors condemned the directive in a statement last month, arguing it places the universities under suspicion and bypasses due process. “It remains unclear what legal authority permits the Department of War to condition all federal research funding, rather than just its own budget, on compliance with this order,” the unions said, using the Trump administration’s preferred name for the agency.

Inside Higher Ed reached out to all 30 U.S. institutions to learn more about what they told the department; nine responded and only a few of those shared their letters to DOD. The responses indicate that while the department’s directive focused on research activities, other types of academic partnerships with institutions in China could face more scrutiny.

The University of North Carolina told DOD that it ended a study abroad program with Fudan University in China “out of an abundance of caution.” The university’s compliance software flagged the program in late July after the updated Section 1286 list was released.

UNC’s review also identified two unfunded research projects with two institutions on the list. Neither project involves federal funding or access to UNC’s campus. Still, the faculty involved agreed to end the projects after they publish the results of the research.

A University of Minnesota spokesperson said that its review didn’t identify “any current activities that constitute specific research collaborations or arrangements of national security concern.” However, the university is evaluating a handful of “active academic exchange programs” identified in the review; the goal is to wind them down “appropriately,” the spokesperson said.

At a few universities, DOD identified a specific partnership or program that no longer exists.

The University of South Carolina ended its dual-degree business program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in February “in response to evolving federal research security requirements and risk considerations,” according to the university’s Aug. 17 response to the department. A Bryant University spokesperson said its accounting program with Beijing Institute of Technology Zhuhai ended in 2024.

The spokesperson added the program “did not include any research activities” or “any collaboration on federally funded research projects.”

Several universities declined to share what they sent to DOD, though they acknowledged their responsibility to protect U.S. research and comply with federal laws.

Others said they are continuing with their partnerships.

Northeastern State University in Oklahoma told KTUL in Tulsa that it reviewed its relationship with Guangzhou College of Technology and Business and identified no research security risk. “The review confirmed that the relationship with GCTB is limited exclusively to undergraduate teaching and degree completion,” the statement said.

Drake University President Marty Martin said in a campus message that DOD requested that Drake review its ties with Qingdao University as an institution located in a foreign country of concern, according to Drake’s student newspaper, The Times-Delphic. Qingdao is not on the Section 1286 list, and Martin said he didn’t “foresee any impact” to the partnership, which includes a dual-degree program.

“Complexity is something a globally engaged university builds the capacity to manage—it is not a reason to retreat from the work,” Martin wrote. “We remain deeply committed to our mission of preparing students for responsible global citizenship.”