Report finds that Stanford received $2.2 billion in foreign gifts and contracts since 1986
Stanford reported $2.2 billion in foreign gifts and contracts since 1986, including $413.2 million from Chinese donors. These reported contributions were made publicly available with the release of a new Department of Education (ED) platform that seeks to comply with Donald Trump’s executive order on foreign influence in American higher education.
According to University spokesperson Angie Davis, who wrote to The Daily, Stanford has several measures and mechanisms in place to ensure that these contributions — which include alumni with foreign passports and companies that are based abroad — are thoroughly vetted.
The U.S. ED published the “Section 117 Foreign Gift and Contract Public Transparency Dashboard”, an interactive portal detailing foreign gifts and contracts reported by American institutions, including Stanford University on Feb. 11. Among the 555 American colleges and universities listed on the portal, Stanford University ranks sixth in total foreign gifts, reporting 5,314 transactions valued at more than $2.2 billion dating back to 1986. Looking at foreign gifts and research contracts by country to Stanford, donors from China top the list with $413.2 million in total funding, followed by donors from Switzerland at $254.5 million and donors from Germany at $178.1 million.
ED Secretary Linda McMahon said in the press release that the portal “marks a new era of transparency for the American people and streamlined compliance for colleges and universities, making it easier than ever for institutions to meet their legal obligations.” The ED also subcontracted Palantir, an integrated data analysis company founded by Peter Thiel ’89 J.D. ’92, to build the foreign funding platform.
In comparison, Harvard University reported nearly a thousand more transactions and almost double the total amount of gifts that Stanford received, totaling $4.2 billion worth of donations. Like Stanford, donors from China make up the largest share of Harvard’s foreign donations, totaling $607.1 million. Harvard, New York University and Stanford received the most contributions from Chinese entities. Among all American institutions, Qatari donors have contributed the most to universities, followed by China, Germany, England and Saudi Arabia.
Davis noted that Section 117 reporting can give a misleading impression of the geographic origins of support because many companies with a significant U.S. presence are either owned by foreign parent corporations or legally required to be headquartered abroad. “They are included in the Section 117 reporting even though they have a strong U.S. presence,” she wrote to the Daily.
In 2025, Stanford reported $529 million in gifts and contracts under Section 117 across all countries, according to Davis. Of that total, 13% came from “countries of concern” — a federally-designated category for countries whose contributions may carry national or economic security implications. This can include U.S.-based residents with foreign citizenship who are well known to the University.
Davis maintained that the University oversees and safeguards the gifts it receives, emphasizing its “right to to forgo any offered gift, international or domestic,” including in cases where funds were acquired through “illegal or immoral activities,” where donor-imposed restrictions could compromise research independence or reputational harm is likely. For international sources of funding — particularly from countries of concern — Davis said Stanford has implemented “additional layers of scrutiny.”
“The Section 117 reporting includes research contracts that are supporting important advances in knowledge and human health,” she wrote. “It also includes philanthropic support to advance Stanford’s mission.” Davis added that many donors — including alumni, parents and friends — maintain “a multi-decade long relationship with the university and/or our medical center.”
More than half of Stanford’s Section 117 reports in 2025 related to grants and contracts from international organizations that directly support on-campus research, according to Davis. Recent examples include a European Research Council–funded project examining how cells adapt to stressors and a Singaporean-funded initiative developing tools to accelerate a climate-resilient global economy. Section 117 disclosures encompass both research contracts and philanthropic gifts.
President Trump signed Executive Order 14282, titled “Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities” last April, which seeks to enforce Section 117 of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965. This requires American colleges and universities to publicly report foreign gifts and contracts worth more than $250,000 to the ED in order to “maintain eligibility in federal programs, such as financial aid.”
Since the 2020 reporting cycle, Stanford has administered foreign gift contracts and reporting through Financial Management Services’ Global Business Services department.
Stanford previously reached a $1.9 million settlement with the Department of Justice in 2023 over disputed claims that the University hid faculty members’ “current and pending support” from foreign entities. In the 2023 settlement, the University committed to work with the National Science Foundation “on best practices” in foreign gifts funding research projects.
Since the settlement, the University has taken steps to strengthen internal processes to prevent future reporting failures and to ensure adherence to Section 117. Stanford’s research and education mission “benefits greatly from the financial support of many individuals and organizations,” Davis wrote.
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