U.S. colleges received more than 5 billion dollars in reportable foreign gifts and contracts in 2025, according to a new website from the U.S. Education Department. The release is part of a push by the Trump administration to make foreign influence in colleges and universities more transparent.

Among the biggest recipients, the data show, are Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.

Qatar was the largest foreign source of funds to schools, making up more than 20% — or about 1.1 billion. Other sources include the United Kingdom, China, Switzerland and Japan.

In a statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the data provide “unprecedented visibility into funding” from countries that threaten “America’s national security.”

Under existing federal law, institutions are required to report gifts or contracts from foreign entities above $250,000. But Republicans have long raised underreporting as an issue of national security — pushing for more reporting and more transparency.

Since the start of President Trump’s second term, the administration has investigated Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley, for allegedly underreporting their foreign gifts.

Ian Oxnevad, a senior fellow at the National Association of Scholars, a conservative advocacy organization, called the release of the new information a “step in the right direction.”

He said the data brings welcome transparency to the sometimes murky world of foreign gifts to U.S. colleges. This data sheds light on “specific countries, what universities they donate to, and the amounts.“

Among the significant revelations, he noted, are that “Qatar and China are among the top countries that donate to our universities, and not our allies or neighbors.”

The new website includes data on what McMahon called “countries of concern,” including China, Russia and Iran. Harvard, New York University and MIT top the list of schools getting money from those countries.

It’s important, Oxnevad said, given the role that universities such as Harvard and other Ivy League schools play in shaping public policy, to be aware that they’re “getting such heavy foreign funds.”

Universities have said they are in compliance with the law.

“MIT research on campus, regardless of funding source, is open and publishable,” the university said in a statement. “We follow all federal laws in accepting and reporting any such gifts or contracts.”

The American Council on Education, a member organization that represents and advocates for colleges and universities, echoed that sentiment.

“This demonstrates that our institutions are doing a good job reporting this information,” says Sarah Spreitzer, vice president and chief of staff at ACE.

Both Spreitzer and Oxnevad pointed out limitations in the data on the website, including a lack of details or an ability to compare years and see trends over time. Both were critical of the government’s tracking and reporting of this information under past administrations.

But Spreitzer added that some of the information, without more context or detail, is misleading, or at best dated.

“I worry that [the administration] is trying to send a message to taxpayers that our institutions are taking a lot of money from foreign donors,” says Spreitzer. “We are all for more transparency.”

Her concern though, she said, is how the Trump administration will use this data in its continuing attacks on higher education.

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Donald Trump said he “insisted” US talks with Iran should continue in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that concluded with no agreement on the strategy towards Tehran.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday afternoon, Trump said he told the Israeli leader that his “preference” was to reach a pact with Iran on its nuclear programme even as Washington continues to weigh new military strikes against the Islamic republic.

Trump wrote: “There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be.”

After the meeting, Netanyahu’s office issued a brief statement on X, saying the two men had spoken about the “negotiations with Iran, Gaza and regional developments”. It added the prime minister had “emphasised the security needs of the state of Israel in the context of the negotiations and the two leaders agreed on continued co-ordination and the close contact between them”.

Ahead of the meeting with Netanyahu, Trump told Axios news on Tuesday that he was “thinking” about deploying a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East. This would be in addition to the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which was sent to the region last month as part of a build-up of the American military presence in the Middle East in preparation for a potential strike on Iran.

When Washington attacked three main Iranian nuclear facilities last June, the US had two aircraft-carrier strike groups positioned in the region.

The US currently has 10 ships in the region, including the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier — with dozens of fighter aircraft and thousands of troops on board — in the Arabian Sea. The Pentagon has also deployed two destroyers to the Mediterranean as well as sending more fighter jets and bolstering air defences in the Middle East.

Trump is widely expected to order the USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier to join the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in the Middle East. The George HW Bush is off the coast of Florida undergoing training exercises, according to the US Navy.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported the Pentagon has told an aircraft carrier strike group to prepare to deploy to the Middle East and that a deployment order could come within hours.

The navy said it could not speak to future operations and the Pentagon said it had no information. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Two incidents occurred last week between the US and Iran in Middle Eastern waters. American forces shot down an Iranian drone as it approached the Abraham Lincoln. Separately, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to board and seize a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting an American warship to respond.

Additional reporting by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv