The Education Department is investigating foreign sources of funding for the University of Michigan.
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The Department of Education has opened an investigation into the University of Michigan’s foreign funding after a review revealed alleged “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures,” department officials announced Tuesday.
“Despite the University of Michigan’s history of downplaying its vulnerabilities to malign foreign influence, recent reports reveal that UM’s research laboratories remain vulnerable to sabotage,” chief investigative counsel Paul Moore said in a statement. “As the recipient of federal research funding, UM has both a moral and legal obligation to be completely transparent about its foreign partnerships. 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.”
UM ended a partnership with China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University in January under pressure from Congress, as the Education Department noted in its announcement. But last month the Justice Department “issued a criminal complaint and, separately, brought forth criminal charges amid allegations that multiple Chinese nationals smuggled dangerous biological materials, potentially for agroterrorism, into the United States for use at UM laboratories,” according to ED.
The statement continued, “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,” which set $250,000 as the threshold for reporting foreign gifts.
As part of the investigation, UM is required to submit a number of documents to the government, including tax records related to foreign funding since 2020, copies of all written agreements with foreign entities, a full list of all the personnel involved in research collaborations with non-U.S. institutions and a complete list of all foreign gifts, grants and contracts.
The University of Michigan did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
