President Donald Trump’s administration is tightening scrutiny on foreign influence in higher education, rolling out a streamlined federal reporting system that will make it harder for universities to hide massive overseas donations.

Beginning January 2, the Department of Education (DOE) will launch a new foreign-funding reporting portal.

The move is part of Trump’s renewed push to enforce transparency laws that many schools have skirted for years.

Under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, colleges that grant bachelor’s degrees must disclose foreign gifts totaling more than $250,000 annually.

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These reports have historically been filed inconsistently or not at all.

The upcoming portal will allow institutions to upload these disclosures in bulk, organize contributions, and generate publicly accessible visual summaries of where the money comes from.

The department noted that nine universities participated in testing the upgraded system.

Officials said the improvements reflect “years of comments and feedback” from institutions required to report foreign ties.

The move marks a continuation of Trump’s efforts to expose hidden overseas influence in academia.

During his first term, the Department of Education opened foreign-gift investigations into 19 universities.

In April, Trump signed a sweeping executive order, Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities, mandating “robust enforcement” of disclosure laws and threatening to withhold federal funds from schools that refuse to comply.

The administration has warned repeatedly that foreign governments and entities may hold outsized sway over American schools when donations are concealed.

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“America’s taxpayer-funded colleges and universities have both a moral and legal obligation to be fully transparent with the U.S. government and the American people about their foreign financial relationships,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said.

The new portal arrives as Trump continues his effort to dismantle and decentralize the Department of Education.

In March, the president signed an executive order initiating the process, and McMahon has since indicated that certain programs will be transferred to the State Department, the Department of the Interior, and other federal agencies.

The department did not specify how long it will oversee the portal or which agency may eventually take over enforcement and reporting.

However, beginning January 2, the window for universities to quietly accept large foreign gifts is getting significantly smaller.

The administration plans to keep tightening it.

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