The Middle Eastern nation of Qatar is the largest foreign funder of American colleges and universities, according to new data from the Department of Education.

Qatar has gifted or entered into contracts with U.S. universities that total nearly $6.6 billion over several decades, according to the data released by the Department of Education at the end of 2025.

The law requires American colleges and universities to report foreign gifts and contracts valued annually at $250,000 or more. Over 190 countries have entered into contracts with, or sent financial gifts to, 527 U.S. institutes of higher education, but Qatar outpaces them all.

Jason Bedrick, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, argues Qatar’s financial investment in U.S. universities is part of the country’s “soft power strategy.”

The aim is “to buy influence among America’s future elite, as well as to promote anti-American and anti-Jewish ideologies on college campuses, including stirring up the pro-Hamas encampments,” Bedrick........

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