Federal data released this week shows Carnegie Mellon University receives the second-highest amount of foreign funding among U.S. universities.
The data, which spans 1986 to 2025, shows CMU disclosed $3.9 billion in foreign gifts and contracts, according to the U.S. Department of Education. CMU trailed only Harvard University, which received $4.2 billion.
Just under $2 billion of CMU’s foreign funding comes from Qatar.
Reached Friday, CMU spokesman Chuck Carney said more than 90% of those funds are spent in Qatar to operate CMU’s campus there.
CMU has operated its Qatar campus “in alignment with our academic mission and in full compliance with all applicable U.S. laws,” Carney said.
“The costs of operating the CMU-Q campus are underwritten by the Qatar Foundation, pursuant to agreed-upon annual budgets, which are reported each year to the Department of Education, as required by law,” Carney said. “Since CMU-Q opened its doors in 2004, more than 1,400 people from around the world have received a Carnegie Mellon education that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. Throughout our time in Qatar, successive U.S. administrations, including the U.S. State Department, have affirmed the value of this engagement and encouraged our continued presence.”
Other top foreign funders at CMU include Bermuda, at $752.2 million; Canada, $298.8 million; and Portugal, $126.4 million.
The federal government identified $62.5 million coming from “countries of concern”: $59.7 million from China and $2.9 million from Russia.
With more than $7.7 billion disclosed, Qatar is the highest foreign funder of all U.S. colleges, according to the data. The Middle Eastern country is followed by China, at $6.4 billion, and Germany, at $4.7 billion.
The federal Higher Education Act requires universities that receive federal financial assistance to disclose foreign source gifts and contracts valued at $250,000 or more.
These disclosures, however, weren’t always available to the public. President Donald Trump’s administration said in a news release that the decision to share the data brings “transparency and accountability to foreign funding disclosures as required by law.”
Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the foreign funding portal gives transparency to the integrity of academic research and national security.
“This marks a new era of transparency for the American people and streamlined compliance for colleges and universities, making it easier than ever for institutions to meet their legal obligations,” McMahon said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we remain firmly committed to ensuring that universities uphold their legal and ethical obligations to disclose the true origins of their foreign relationships.”
Since 1986, universities have reported more than $67 billion in foreign funding, according to the data. The majority of that funding has been disclosed since 2019.
Other universities in Pa.
Universities in Pennsylvania have reported more than $8 billion in foreign funding.
Following CMU, the University of Pennsylvania reported the second-highest amount in the state at $2.79 billion, with top funders being Germany, $1.9 billion; China, $210.2 million; and Britain, $129.5 million.
Penn State had the third-highest amount in the state at $722.4 million. Saudi Arabia contributed the most to Penn State at $201 million; followed by Malaysia, $98.7 million; and the United Arab Emirates, $79.9 million.
The University of Pittsburgh was fifth-highest statewide at $148.9 million, with top funders being the United Kingdom, $29.8 million; Kazakhstan, $19.5 million; and Switzerland, $13.1 million.
Robert Morris University reported just under $27 million in foreign funding, Indiana University of Pennsylvania had $22.1 million, and Washington & Jefferson College reported $1.1 million.
