Pentagon orders 30 universities to audit foreign ties by August 31

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon ordered 30 American universities to run immediate audits of foreign academic, financial, and research partnerships or risk losing eligibility for federal research funding.

Schools must report findings and mitigation steps, including ending partnerships judged problematic, by Aug. 31, 2026, according to a Defense Department notice summarized by Fox News and other outlets. The reviews cover collaborations with foreign entities of concern, including institutions linked to China, Russia, and Iran and organizations tied to former Confucius Institute networks.

Universities named in reporting include Harvard, MIT, NYU, Duke, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Penn State, several University of California campuses, the University of Texas at Austin, and others across the country. A U.S. official provided the roster to Fox News.

Defense officials said universities are critical to national security research and must identify which partnerships create risk for sensitive or export-controlled work. The department can require termination of flagged relationships as a condition of future funding.

Research universities have expanded international collaboration for decades. The new order tightens security screening around that model. Campus leaders now have two weeks to inventory agreements, map data access, and decide which ties to keep, change, or cut.

The announcement does not by itself cancel existing grants. It sets a hard reporting deadline and ties continued funding eligibility to a clean review. Further guidance may follow as schools file responses.