The Department of Education is investigating whether the University of Maryland reported foreign gifts and contracts in accordance to federal law, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
This university is the fifth to be investigated, after the federal government opened inquiries into Cornell, Rutgers, Georgetown and Texas A&M this past summer.
In a letter sent to university president Wallace Loh Sept. 26, U.S. officials expressed concern that the university’s reports did not include all foreign gifts and contracts bringing the university revenue, the Post reported.
According to the Post, the letter did not allege a violation, but requested records on foreign gifts and contracts from recent years, such as from China, Qatar, Russia and other entities connected to those countries.
The Higher Education Act requires institutions to report gifts or contracts valued at $250,000 or more from a foreign source, either alone or combined from the same source in the same calendar year.
However, the Americal Council on Education — of which this university is a member — has expressed a need for clarity on these regulations in the past.
“We plan to work with federal officials in a transparent and timely manner to fully resolve these issues,” university spokesperson Katie Lawson told the Post.
