Project 2025 Tracker / What’s done, what’s next

11. Department of Education · Notable

Enforce HEA Section 117 foreign gift reporting

Done

355 11. Department of Education

“Reverse the Biden Administration's refusal to enforce Section 117 of the HEA, which directs colleges and universities to report gifts from, and contracts with, sources outside the U.S. worth $250,000 or more.”

What has happened

  1. Done

    The rebuilt reporting portal launched on 2026-01-02 (announced 2025-12-01) and the Department published the 2025 disclosures on it: "over 8,300 transactions worth more than $5.2 billion", with $67.6 billion reported in total. A new information collection for the Foreign Gifts and Contracts Disclosures was cleared through the Federal Register over the same period, and a negotiated rulemaking on documenting foreign source gifts is on the Unified Agenda (RIN 1840-AD50).

  2. Done

    Two days later the Secretary moved Section 117 enforcement back out of Federal Student Aid and into the Office of the General Counsel — undoing the specific Biden-era change the Quote complains of — and OGC opened a Notice of Investigation and Records Request into the University of California, Berkeley, a week after a records request to Harvard. Enforcement is being carried out, which is what the Quote asks.

  3. Attempted

    Executive Order 14282 recites that under the prior administration "no new Section 117 investigations were initiated for four years" and orders the Secretary to "take all appropriate actions to enforce the requirements of section 1011f", to reverse actions permitting secrecy, to require more specific disclosure and to give the public greater access to the data.

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

  • The portal announcement (2025-12-01): bulk upload, executive-summary visualizations, live 2026-01-02.
  • Unified Agenda: ED RIN 1840-AD50, “Documentation of Foreign Source Gifts and Contracts, Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965”, prerule stage, notice of intent to commence negotiated rulemaking 11/2026 — https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202510&RIN=1840-AD50.
  • The investigations themselves are #896; tying reporting to federal aid eligibility is #897.
  • Checked 2026-10-05: donor-name publication enjoined. It does not reach this ask. Association of American Universities v. Department of Education (D.D.C. 1:26-cv-03438-TSC, filed 2026-10-01) challenges ED’s June 2026 decision to publish the individual foreign donor names collected since 2020. ED had published 92 institutional donors and set 2026-10-02 for the rest. On 2026-10-01 Judge Chutkan granted a TRO, read in full. The TRO enjoins ED from publishing names or other identifying information reported by AAU members that has not already been disclosed, for 28 days. Briefing on a preliminary injunction runs to 2026-10-20. The order reaches publication of donor identities only, which belongs to EO 14282’s “greater access” clause and not to this Quote’s object, ED’s enforcement of universities’ duty to report. Reporting, the portal and the investigations are untouched, so done stands. Docket: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74907380/association-of-american-universities-v-us-department-of-education/ .
Action
restore
Object
Section 117 of the Higher Education Act (foreign gift reporting)
ID
895