The Department of War has ordered 30 U.S. academic institutions to audit their academic, financial and research ties to foreign entities of concern or lose eligibility for future federal research funding.
The department issued formal notifications Monday through the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, according to its announcement. The notices target active partnerships with foreign organizations named under Section 1286 of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, along with groups tied to rebranded Confucius Institutes.
Officials said the goal is to protect research funded by American taxpayers from unauthorized technology transfer, theft of intellectual property and exploitation by adversarial actors.
"The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security," said Emil Michael, under secretary of war for research and engineering, in a statement.
To stay eligible for future funding, the institutions must audit every identified collaboration, determine whether sensitive research or research subject to export controls has been exposed, and put mitigation plans in place, which may include ending the partnerships. Findings and actions must go directly to the department no later than Aug. 31.
The department did not publicly name the 30 institutions, Military Times reported.
Joseph Jewell, assistant secretary of war for science and technology, said universities are critical partners across a wide range of department research programs and that the department has to be sure those investments are protected from foreign exploitation.
Section 1286 established a list of foreign institutions engaged in activity that raises the risk of federally funded research being misappropriated. Beginning in fiscal 2026, the department cannot fund fundamental research that involves a partnership with any organization on that list, including joint projects and shared use of equipment, according to Military Times. The restriction also covers employees of listed entities.
The directive follows a broader tightening of research security. Confucius Institutes, language and cultural centers backed by the Chinese government, operated on American campuses from 2004 into the early 2020s before closing in large numbers under federal scrutiny over their links to the Chinese Communist Party, DefenseScoop reported. The new notices reach organizations that officials say now operate as successors to those centers under different names.
The Pentagon has increasingly examined how American research output can strengthen China's military capabilities, Military Times reported, even though the administration's 2026 National Defense Authorization Act ranked China as the second threat to the United States rather than the first.
The South China Morning Post reported that the reviews take in collaborations with Chinese institutions. With the deadline set for Aug. 31, the affected schools have less than two weeks from the day the notices went out.