Introduction

American higher education should serve the American national interest and American citizens. Colleges should abide by all federal and state laws. Congress should ensure that programs such as area studies grants continue to serve the American government as it carries out its foreign policies. It should also ensure that colleges are not allowed to flout immigration law by declaring themselves “sanctuary campuses,” which refuse to cooperate with federal immigration law and enforcement officials.

Many colleges and universities have become financially dependent on foreign nations, by way of grants, and especially on foreign students, whose tuition payments constitute a financial lifeline for many struggling institutions. Some universities, such as those with Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes, have allowed themselves to host centers of foreign influence campaigns in exchange for financial assistance.

Colleges should welcome international students, but also hold them to the same academic standards as other students—including proficiency in English. Congress should encourage colleges to focus on the undergraduate and graduate education of American citizens and reduce their dependence upon foreign sources for tuition and staffing. Congress should also encourage colleges to protect intellectual property and national security and ensure that they do not inadvertently send sensitive technology and research to rival nations by welcoming foreign students and researchers.

Policy Recommendations

Limit Foreign Dependence

American higher education should focus on providing educational opportunities to American citizens. When too large a proportion of the student body consists of foreigners, departments and colleges cater to foreign interests rather than serve American ones.

Legislative language: Add to 20 USC §1087c. (Selection of institutions for participation and origination) a subsection specifying that an institution of higher education will be deemed ineligible

1. if it receives more than 20% of its tuition revenues from international students;
2. if it receives more than 5% of its tuition revenues from students from any one foreign country;
3. if more than 5% of its undergraduate students are foreigners; and
4. if fewer than 35% of graduate students in any department are American citizens.

Limit Chinese Government Influence

The Chinese government has operated a targeted, highly effective campaign to steal American research and intellectual property, build soft power in strategic American institutions, and compromise key figures in American higher education.

Legislative language: Add to 20 USC §1087c. (Selection of institutions for participation and origination) a subsection specifying that

1. no funding may go to an institution that hosts a Confucius Institute or any similar program funded directly or indirectly by the People’s Republic of China; knowingly employs a professor who has received money from the Thousand Talents Program or any similar program; does not require employees to affirm annually as a condition of their employment that they have received no money from the Thousand Talents Program or any similar program; possesses a branch campus in China or Hong Kong; or receives any undisclosed funds from the Chinese government or Chinese citizens.

Mandate Transparency About Foreign Gifts

Congress should require colleges and universities to disclose transparently the foreign gifts they receive.

Legislative Language: Amend 20 U.S.C. § 1011f (Disclosures of foreign gifts), to

1. lower the disclosure threshold from $250,000 to $50,000;
2. require institutions to disclose the name of the foreign donor (including the name of a foreign government agency);
3. require institutions to disclose gifts made by registered foreign agents;
4. specify that in-kind gifts count toward the disclosure threshold;
5. require institutions to disclose the purpose of the gift and any conditions attached to it; and
6. require the Department of Education to maintain an electronic, publicly accessible database of all foreign gift disclosures.

End International Branch Campuses in Undemocratic Countries

American colleges and universities operate 84 international branch campuses. These international branch campuses include 15 in China and Hong Kong, 7 in Qatar, and 6 in the United Arab Emirates. Such programs have historically functioned as sources of net income to universities. Universities’ desire to preserve this profit source consequently gives foreign governments a means to exert influence on them. American universities also must compromise their championship of American liberties when they allow themselves to operate on the soil of foreign tyrannies.

Legislative language: Add to 20 USC §1087c. (Selection of institutions for participation and origination) a subsection specifying that

1. an institution of higher education will be deemed ineligible if it does not sever all institutional and financial ties with international branch campuses in undemocratic countries by December 31, 2021;
2. international branch campuses will only be authorized in countries that the Department of State certifies to the Department of Education are ruled by a democratically elected government; and
3. authorization for international branch campuses in a country will lapse one year after the Department of Education last receives a certification from the Department of State that the country is ruled by a democratically elected government.

Reform Title VI Area Studies Grants

Congress should reform Title VI area studies grants, especially those to Middle East Studies, to require these programs to live up to their commitments to educate students capable and willing to support American foreign policy.

Legislative Language: Congress should

1. Add to 20 U.S.C. § 1127 (International and foreign language studies, Selection of certain grant recipients) a subsection stating that “the Secretary shall award no grants to an institution that boycotts or abets in a boycott, or any of whose faculty or administrators boycott or abet in a boycott, of national security related scholarships.”
2. Add to 20 U.S.C. §1124. (Undergraduate international studies and foreign language programs) a subsection stating that “none of the consortia or partnership between nonprofit educational organizations and institutions of higher education may include a partnership, cooperation, sharing of staff, or any other arrangement with a Confucius Institute.”
3. Amend 20 U.S.C. § 1132–6 (Science and technology advanced foreign language education grant program) as follows:
   1. Add to (c) (Regulations and requirements) a stipulation that “no funds may be used for courses, workshops, events, or any other programs that deal primarily with American social or cultural issues, including multicultural experiences in America, unless they directly promote foreign language learning and advance the national security interests and economic stability of the United States.”
   2. Add to (d) (Grant distribution) a subsection stating that “the Secretary shall award no grants to an institution that boycotts or abets in a boycott, or any of whose faculty or administrators boycott or abet in a boycott, of national security related scholarships.”

Forbid Sanctuary Campuses

Congress should enact legal penalties for colleges and universities that declare themselves “sanctuary campuses,” or provide admission, employment, or financial support for illegal aliens.

Legislative Language: Add to 20 U.S.C. §1085. Definitions for student loan insurance program (a) (Eligible Institution) a subsection mandating that

1. “By entering into a program participation agreement, an institution agrees that it will admit or hire no illegal alien, that it will operate neither formally nor informally any “sanctuary campus” policies, that it will cooperate fully and promptly with all requests by the Department of Immigration and Nationalization, and that its Board of Trustees or Regents will certify annually both that the college has complied fully with these requirement and that it has procedures in place to ensure continuing full compliance with these requirements.”

USCIS Civics Test Act

The U.S. Civics Test, administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immigrants who wish to be naturalized, now provides the basis for the civics education of 25 states. Civics education in these states therefore depends on which Civics Test the USCIS uses. The Trump administration briefly replaced the 100-question 2008 Civics Test with a more rigorous 128-question 2020 Civics Test, before the Biden administration reverted to the 2008 Civics Test. These rapid changes make it clear that the Civics Test is now susceptible to partisan change. Given that radical advocates have attempted to substitute radical propaganda for civics education in a remarkably wide sphere of American life, it is reasonable to worry that they will attempt to degrade the Civics Test as well, both to propagandize immigrants directly and to worsen civics education in the states. Congress should revise 8 CFR § 312.2 – Knowledge of history and government of the United States by adding two subsections to 8 CFR § 312.2 (c), History and government examination. The first subsection (§ 312.2 (c)(3)) directs the USCIS to use the more rigorous 128-question 2020 Civics Test. The second subsection (§ 312.2 (c)(4)) stipulates that in the future a revised Civics Test will only be implemented if it receives the approval of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the President. This subsection will prevent the federal bureaucracy from enacting changes on its own authority that will, as a result of state laws, change the civics curriculum in half the nation.

Legislative Language:

8 CFR § 312.2 – Knowledge of history and government of the United States.

(c) History and government examination – 

(3) Examination to be used.  The USCIS will use the 128-question 2020 Version of the Civics Test as the examination.

(4) Legislative review.  Future USCIS revisions to the Civics Test shall be subject to legislative review as set forth in this section. Revisions to the Civics Test shall not be implemented by the USCIS until the legislative review process is completed as provided for in this section:

(i) Upon adoption of a revised Civics Test, the USCIS shall submit the revised Civics Test to the Speaker of the House of Representatives or a designee, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives or a designee, the Presiding Officer of the Senate or a designee, the Majority Leader of the Senate or a designee, and the Minority Leader of the Senate or a designee, prior to the last thirty (30) days of the legislative session;

(ii) The revised Civics Test shall not be implemented unless it is approved within the legislative session by the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the President.