As part of its continuous review of foreign influence on college campuses and American society at large, the Biden Administration is looking at how to better collect information about foreign gifts to colleges and universities via updates to reporting requirements.  As part of this review, the Department of Education issued an Information Collection Request (ICR) on Section 117 of the Higher Education Act seeking comments on its proposals related to foreign gifts and contract disclosures.
 
NAICU joined the higher education community in submitting comments to the Department that touch on several issues the higher education community is concerned about or is seeking additional clarification.  Broadly, the comments state that the “higher education community continue(s) to work with the national security and research agencies to address concerns raised by federal policymakers regarding the possibilities of undue foreign influence and research security. While we appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed ICR, we believe that the Department continues to exceed its statutory authority in several key areas.”
 
More specifically, the comments request clarifications regarding Section 117 compliance and highlight concerns about exceeding the statutory authority for additional reporting under Section 117.  The comments also address the technical problems with the reporting portal, confusion about tuition paid by foreign entities, and the underestimation of the work burden to produce the reports.
 
Generally, the community supports two items that will help institutions better comply with Section 117 reporting. On the positive front, the proposed ICR moves oversight for Section 117 from the Office of General Counsel (OGC) back to the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), where it had previously resided.  This move will help, as colleges have more regular communications and established relationships with FSA. Another improvement in the proposed ICR is the clarification that institutions do not need to report “money out” contracts with foreign entities, such as purchases at fair-market value.
 
The higher education community also took issue with aspects of the ICR dealing with exceeding the statutory authority provided under Section 117, specifically proposals that would: 

• Expand reporting on foreign gifts to include “intermediaries” of institutions of higher education, without defining “intermediaries.”
• Require institutions to report the names, addresses and country of origin for gifts made anonymously to institutions.
• Consider institutions that fail to report foreign gifts under Section 117 in violation of the institution’s Program Participation Agreement under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. Section 117 is part of Title I and currently is not part of the Program Participation Agreement for Title IV funds.

 The other issues covered in the comment letter reflect questions colleges and universities have been unsuccessful in getting answers to over the last few years. The community specifically asks the Department to hold a negotiated rulemaking session with representative stakeholders to work out many of the issues in the ICR since better reporting and better compliance is a mutual goal.