On March 27, the House of Representatives passed the
Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, advancing legislation that would dramatically expand foreign gift reporting requirements for colleges and universities.ACE and five other higher education associations are urging lawmakers to revise the bill as it heads to the Senate, warning that it would impose sweeping new mandates without meaningfully advancing national security.
In a
letter sent to House leadership ahead of the 241–169 vote, the associations outlined deep concerns with the legislation, which would amend Section 117 of the Higher Education Act and significantly increase both the scope and complexity of reporting requirements for institutions.
The DETERRENT Act would lower the threshold for reporting foreign gifts and contracts from $250,000 to $50,000—and to $0 for “countries of concern,” a designation set by the U.S. Department of State that currently includes a dozen countries, such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
The bill would also:
- Ban institutions from signing contracts with countries of concern unless the secretary of education grants a waiver;
- Require some institutions to maintain public-facing databases listing foreign gifts and contracts to individual researchers;
- Mandate that certain private colleges report foreign investments or holdings; and
- Impose steep new penalties for noncompliance, some tied to an institution’s eligibility for federal student aid.
ACE’s letter acknowledged that colleges take research security and foreign influence seriously but warned that the bill in its current form would duplicate existing federal oversight efforts, disrupt essential research partnerships, and create a burdensome new data collection regime within the Department of Education—at a time when the department itself is under threat
of being dismantled.
The associations also emphasized that colleges and universities have worked to improve compliance with current Section 117 rules and have collaborated closely with national security and research agencies to ensure responsible and transparent reporting.
The DETERRENT Act included a provision linking antisemitism on campus to foreign actors—a strategy the associations argued would do little to address the societal roots of antisemitism and instead introduce additional layers of compliance confusion without meaningful benefit.
“Colleges and universities share Congress’s commitment to safeguarding national security and maintaining research integrity,” the associations wrote. “We stand ready to work with lawmakers to ensure that any new legislation strengthens those goals without impeding the vital teaching and research mission of our institutions.”
This marked the second time the House approved a version of the DETERRENT Act. As
Higher Ed Dive reported, the bill failed to advance in 2023 under a Democrat-controlled Senate. With Republicans now holding both chambers of Congress, the measure stands a far greater chance of becoming law.
ACE and its partners will continue working to improve the bill as it moves through the Senate.