DETERRENT Act
Sen. Tillis Introduces DETERRENT Act to Reveal Foreign Influence at U.S. Universities
Stalled
No legislative action in over 90 days.
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- This bill, called the DETERRENT Act, would require colleges to tell the government whenever they receive $50,000 or more from a foreign source. Currently, schools only have to report these gifts if they are worth $250,000 or more.
- Colleges would be banned from signing contracts with 'countries of concern,' such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, unless they get a special one-year waiver from the government. For these specific countries, schools must report every dollar received, no matter how small the amount.
- Large research universities that get more than $50 million in federal funding would have to set up internal systems to track foreign gifts given directly to their faculty and staff. This information would then be put into a public, searchable database so anyone can see who is paying for campus programs.
- Schools that hide this foreign money could face massive fines starting at $50,000 or the total value of the gift. If a college is caught breaking these rules three times, it could lose its ability to accept federal student loans and grants for at least two years.
- The Education Department would be required to share all foreign gift reports with national security agencies, including the FBI and the CIA, to help identify potential foreign influence or spying on American campuses.
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
Milestones
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Related News
5 articlesHouse Passes DETERRENT Act
The bill aims to increase transparency by requiring colleges to report every dollar received from countries of concern. It also mandates that schools receiving over $50 million in federal funding set up internal systems to track foreign gifts to individual faculty members.
Senate Hearing Preview: Foreign Money on Campus Faces New Scrutiny From HELP Committee
A 2026 Senate hearing examines the DETERRENT Act's impact on higher education. The bill's focus on lowering reporting thresholds and tracking faculty-level gifts has sparked intense lobbying from major research universities concerned about administrative burdens.
House passes bill to crack down on foreign influence at universities
House Republicans passed legislation to crack down on foreign influence at universities by lowering reporting thresholds. The bill aims to close loopholes that allowed billions in foreign funds to go undetected by federal regulators and requires a public database of foreign gifts.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
DETERRENT Act
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
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