US opens probe into University of Michigan's foreign funding
By Kanishka Singh
July 15, 202510:41 PM EDTUpdated July 15, 2025
Summary
University of Michigan says it will fully cooperate with federal investigators
Education Department sent letter to university
US alleges that university's research laboratories 'vulnerable to sabotage'
July 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Education Department said on Tuesday it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan while alleging it found "inaccurate and incomplete disclosures" in a review of the university's foreign reports.
As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants, and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to the university.
The University of Michigan will cooperate fully with federal investigators and it takes its responsibility to comply with the law seriously, it said in a statement.
"We strongly condemn any actions that seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university's critical public mission," the statement said.
The Education Department said the university's research laboratories were "vulnerable to sabotage," citing charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department against two Chinese nationals allegedly involving a University of Michigan lab.
In June, U.S. federal prosecutors accused two Chinese nationals of smuggling into the U.S. a dangerous biological pathogen that they said had the potential to be used as an agricultural "terrorism weapon".
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-education-department-opens-foreign-funding-probe-into-university-michigan-2025-07-15/
