U.S. Department Of Education To Publish Foreign Source Names From Section 117 Reports, Citing National Security Considerations As Basis For Policy Change

On July 6, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it will publish the names of all foreign sources from prior reporting cycles in next week’s Section 117 data update, scheduled for July 15. This update is a major change from ED’s prior approach of publishing the names of foreign government entities only. ED has described in related Section 117 materials that national security interests influenced this “policy determination” and that the publication of counterparty names “outweighs countervailing confidentiality interests or FOIA-based objections.”

This advisory addresses the policy change and related developments, including Section 117 topics open for public comment until July 29. ED also has confirmed that it intends to promulgate Section 117 regulations; the process is slated to begin later this year.

Policy change

The July 6 Electronic Announcement follows two Federal Register notices regarding proposed revisions to ED’s currently approved Section 117 information collection: a 60-day notice (published April 15) and a 30-day notice (published June 29). The notices stated that ED was “seeking renewal for substantially the same information collection;” the underlying materials detailed ED’s intent to publish all foreign source counterparty names.

• ED’s supporting statement to its April 15 Notice described:¹

Consistent with the requirements of Section 117, the Department intends to publish the contents of reports made by institutions to the fullest extent required by 20 U.S.C. § 1011f(e), including publication of details about specific counterparties, such as the counterparty's name. It is clear on the face of the statute and in the legislative history of Section 117 that Congress enacted Section 117 believing that transparent reporting was necessary to counteract any distorting influence of foreign money on teaching, research, and culture and provide policymakers and the public with information to assess, detect, and respond to foreign influence operations under the guise of “academic” activities and to threats against the U.S. research enterprise.

• ED shared a summary of public comments with responses in connection with its June 29 Notice. It appears to be there that ED first announced: “The publication of counterparty names will occur on July 15, 2026.” Although ED received only four comments in response to the April 15 Notice, commenters objected to ED’s publication of all foreign source names.
  • ED seemed unpersuaded by arguments it was exceeding its authority, citing national security considerations and the statutory requirements of Section 117 as support for publicly disclosing counterparty names:

[T]he public interest at stake—the ability to examine substantial foreign financial ties with domestic institutions of higher education, including research institutions involved in the taxpayer-funded development of critical and emerging technologies—is substantial and directly affects U.S. national security considerations. Public access to the identities of qualifying foreign counterparties is essential to transparency and helps ensure that the national interests of the United States are protected. Accordingly, it is not only statutorily required but also in the best interests of the United States’ national security to provide access to the identities of qualifying foreign nationals and entities that provide gifts to, or enter into contracts with, institutions of higher education and the Department’s ongoing collection and public release of this limited foreign counterparty information falls within, and does not exceed, the Department’s authority under Section 117.

ED’s position that public disclosure of foreign source names is “statutorily required” is a significant change from its prior position. For example, in an April 2023 response to public comments about Section 117 topics, ED stated:

The Department does not consider the name and address it seeks under this information collection to be part of the disclosure report that must be made public under Section 117(e). The Department needs the name and address to support its enforcement activities and provide a basis for verifying institutions are disclosing information to the public as Congress directed, and it is not information that Congress intended to be part of the public disclosure report.

ED’s prior position aligned with the Section 117 statute. Technically speaking, the statute requires an institution to disclose the name of a foreign donor or counterparty when the donor or counterparty is a foreign government and the gift or contract is restricted and conditional. See 20 U.S.C. § 1011f(c). The statute does not explicitly require disclosure of addresses, only the relevant country.

• ED also cited national security considerations as support for not permitting institutions to invoke FOIA or other protections against public disclosure of foreign source names:

[T]he Department notes that it has been clear that the previous policy to not publish names and addresses was a policy determination based in part on the representations by certain institutions that the information was protected by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other expressed concerns of institutions. At this point based on evidence from the Department and other reliable sources—including, without limitation, Congressional committees and national security assessments—the statutory inspection requirement outweighs countervailing confidentiality interests or FOIA-based objections. . . . On balance, the transparency goal outweighs the potential FOIA exemption, particularly given the limited assertion of the FOIA exemption by institutions [checking the relevant box in prior versions of the reporting portal].

ED indicated that “in the period from July 2023 through December 2025, only 21% of the transactions reported by institutions were designated by institutions as exempt under FOIA and only 18% of the institutions reporting identified one or more qualifying transactions as exempt under FOIA.” The new portal launched in advance of the January 31, 2026 reporting deadline did not include the FOIA checkbox.

Related Section 117 developments

ED made other statements in the underlying materials of the Federal Register notices that are worth noting:

• ED confirmed that it will not publish the addresses of foreign source counterparties, though it asserts it “has the legal right to continue to collect and to disclose” such information.
• ED described collaboration with other agencies regarding foreign gift and contract reporting. Specifically, ED confirmed that it “detailed an OGC employee to NSF during the process of NSF standing up its collection mechanism,” i.e., the National Science Foundation’s Foreign Financial Disclosure Report. And although not mentioned in these Section 117 materials, we previously reported that ED entered into an interagency partnership with the State Department to assist with Section 117 compliance efforts. This underscores the Trump Administration’s cross-agency focus on foreign gift and contract reporting requirements and related concerns about alleged foreign influence in higher education.
• ED proposed modifying the reporting portal certification “to clarify that the certification is on behalf of the institution, as represented by an authorized individual employee of the institution,” not a certification that would establish personal liability of the employee.
• ED asserted that based on the “new efficiencies” of the recently launched reporting portal, it believes the average burden is 30 minutes per transaction—in other words, that it would take an institution approximately 30 minutes to both gather information related to a single reportable transaction and enter the information into the portal.

In addition, ED lists Section 117 on its recently published rulemaking agenda, with a target date of November 2026 to publish its notice of intent to commence negotiated rulemaking.

Next steps for institutions

In light of the above developments, we suggest that institutions:

• Consider whether to submit comments on the Section 117 information collection or otherwise take action to challenge ED’s anticipated publication. Although ED plans to publish counterparty names starting July 15, the information collection comment period is open until July 29. In addition, current ED actions may preview its position for the anticipated Section 117 rulemaking process.
• Prepare for potential additional scrutiny of foreign gift and contract reports. Publication of all counterparty names may prompt questions about why an institution chose to receive money from or enter into a contract with a particular foreign source, especially because ED’s Public Transparency Dashboard does not contextualize the data.
• Review counterparty names and consider appropriate communications strategy. Publication of counterparty names may prompt concerns from the counterparties and other stakeholders. Institutions may want to consider developing a communications plan and doing outreach to particular counterparties.
• Submit timely Section 117 reports. The next Section 117 reporting deadline is Friday, July 31. ED’s July 6 announcement reminds institutions that “[a]ny failure to comply or provide accurate submissions could result in an enforcement action.”

We remain available to assist institutions with their foreign gift and contract reporting obligations. Feel free to reach out to a member of the HLC Education team to discuss.

Footnote

1 Bold emphasis added. 20 U.S.C. § 1011f(e) states: “All disclosure reports required by [Section 117] shall be public records open to inspection and copying during business hours.”

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