UPenn leads Philly schools in foreign funding
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Universities in the Philadelphia region raked in billions of dollars from overseas contributors over the past four decades.
Why it matters: The U.S. Education Department's recent data breaks down the foreign contributions that are helping to financially support Philly's biggest schools.
Driving the news: A new database revealed this month shows foreign gifts, contracts and other transactions to hundreds of colleges and universities between 1986 and Dec. 16, 2025.
- In 2025 alone, American institutions documented more than 8,300 transactions worth over $5.2 billion in reportable foreign gifts and contracts.
Flashback: Last year, President Trump issued an executive order enforcing Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which requires colleges and universities to report significant sources of foreign funding.
- Trump said his administration sought to "protect the marketplace of ideas from propaganda sponsored by foreign governments, and safeguard America's students and research from foreign exploitation."
- Section 117 also includes routine transactions, including research contracts and fellowships.
Between the lines: Characterizing all foreign funding as a threat to national security is misleading, says Alexander Cooley, a political scientist researching foreign authoritarian influence.
- The country of origin "does not necessarily reflect the actual provenance of the individual or entity that's giving," he says. "And on the flip side, donations from foreign individuals channelled through shell companies are not classified as foreign donations."
Plus: The reporting requirements also "collapse a lot of different kinds of activities," he says.
- Those activities include tuition reimbursements and scholarships for foreign students, he says, as well as contracts for "joint campuses and satellite campuses" abroad.
Zoom in: The University of Pennsylvania led all schools in the Philly metro — by far — with nearly $2.8 billion in foreign funding.
- The bulk of the funding came from Germany ($1.9 billion).
- Meanwhile, $210.2 million was from China, among those designated "countries of concern" by the U.S. Department of State.
- A Penn spokesperson tells Axios the university is "compliant with Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, and we will continue to comply with it," but declined further comment.
Zoom out: Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh reported the highest foreign funding in Pennsylvania since 1986 ($3.9 billion).
What else: Other Philly schools with big foreign funders during that time period include:
- Temple University: $217.8 million
- Drexel: $63.7 million
- Thomas Jefferson: $41.9 million
- Curtis Institute of Music: $10 million
- St. Joseph's: $6.1 million
What they're saying: Temple spokesperson Stephen Orbanek tells Axios that much of the foreign funding the North Philly university receives is related to international student tuition payments.
The intrigue: Saudi Arabia was among the largest sources of foreign funding to some Philadelphia-area universities.
- Funding originating from Saudi Arabia totaled $39 million for Temple, $8.6 million for Drexel, and $5.6 million for St. Joe's over the past 40 years, per the database.
Friction point: Some critics say that China, Qatar and other foreign entities use partnerships with American schools to expand their influence in the United States.