ED Announces New Agency Partnerships with State Department on Foreign Gift Reporting
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
The Department of Education (ED) on Monday announced two additional interagency agreements (IAAs), one of which would have the Department of State supporting ED’s foreign gift reporting responsibilities.
The announcement builds on six IAAs unveiled last November, and is part of the Trump administration’s broader goal to “break up the federal education bureaucracy” and dismantle ED.
In Monday’s press release, ED announced a new IAA with State over institutions’ annual foreign gift reporting, which is required by Section 117 of the Higher Education Act (HEA).
ED stated that through this new IAA, State will support the department in managing the foreign funding reporting portal. State will also use its “national security and foreign national academic admissions expertise to review and assess the industry’s compliance with the law, share data with the public and federal stakeholders, and identify potential threats.”
This IAA will also ensure that foreign gift reporting data can be “easily used by national security experts.”
“Foreign gift data reported by universities should be readily accessible to our top national security experts, allowing for proactive and decisive action to protect America’s critical interests, as this partnership with State enables,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.
In a fact sheet published by ED, the department stated that institutions should not expect programmatic disruptions due to this new IAA, and current foreign gift reporting guidance remains “static.” The fact sheet also outlined State’s new responsibilities, which include “administering foreign gift reporting and information collection provisions, public inspection requirements, enforcement activities, and implementing programs and other initiatives promoting lawful compliance.”
These responsibilities were originally managed under ED’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC). ED noted that the OGC will continue to manage “all statutory responsibilities and oversight of the program.”
Earlier this month, ED published data submitted from institutions’ 2025 foreign funding disclosures, which amounted to over 8,300 transactions worth over $5.2 billion in reportable foreign gifts and contracts. This data is available to the public on a new website.
The announcement also notes that Health and Human Services (HHS), through a second IAA, will partner with ED to administer school safety programs, including: School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV); School Safety National Activities; Ready to Learn Programming; Full-Service Community Schools; Promise Neighborhoods; and Statewide Family Engagement Centers.
Publication Date: 2/24/2026
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