Education Dept inquiry on foreign funding

The U.S.A. Education Department has launched investigations into funding from foreign sources at several universities. Two of the institutions first noted to be under investigation are Qatar Foundation partners in Doha's Education City, Texas A&M and Georgetown. Cornell University was added in a later update. I'm fairly certain that the Education Department's original intent was to discern funding that could compromise institutional integrity; singling out Texas A&M, Georgetown, and Cornell in this context is interesting. These institutions have contracts with Qatar Foundation for provision of educational programs in Doha - in essence a fee for service. The Education Department investigation will surely come to this conclusion. However, if the institutions did not properly report their sources of revenue, other questions need to be asked.

A follow-up article provided more detail about the amounts reported as gifts from Qatar Foundation, an issue that is sure to raise eyebrows in Qatar. The six U.S. universities hosted at Education City have different contracts and it is a bone of contention that more prestigious universities have more lucrative deals. Reporting of the figures will also allow those who review the information to determine the per-student cost of hosting the U.S. universities in Qatar, a figure that some may view is exorbitant.

The University of Maryland was subsequently added to the list of institutions being investigated for foreign contributions.