{"id":7108,"date":"2026-08-18T07:06:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T07:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7108"},"modified":"2026-08-18T07:06:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T07:06:51","slug":"doj-official-flags-stanford-for-scrutiny-over-foreign-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7108","title":{"rendered":"DOJ official flags Stanford for scrutiny over foreign donations"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>By Liam Knox and Janet Lorin | Bloomberg News<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Stanford University is facing increased scrutiny from the Justice Department over donations from foreign sources and its practices around international students and admissions, according to a senior agency official.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7106\">Driver killed in solo-vehicle crash in Palo Alto<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: Trump rule puts new limits on how long Bay Area international students can stay<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division, said Monday during an interview at Bloomberg\u2019s Washington office that the department is gearing up to examine the university\u2019s foreign funding policies more closely. Her department already opened an investigation into admissions practices at Stanford\u2019s medical school in March.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has been hammering elite universities and colleges, including Harvard and Columbia, over allegations of antisemitism and discriminatory admissions practices. Stanford hasn\u2019t received the same level of scrutiny that the Trump administration directed at many of its peers.<\/p>\n<p>Stanford isn\u2019t getting passed over \u201cbecause of their virtue,\u201d Dhillon said in a wide-ranging interview. \u201cIt\u2019s because I am staffing up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stanford receives the fourth-highest level of funding from foreign sources in \u201ccountries of concern\u201d among US universities, according to data from the Department of Education.<\/p>\n<p>Dhillon also expressed concern over funding for professors\u2019 work and for laboratories that deal with potentially sensitive information from a national security perspective.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s fairly obvious which of our elite institutions have a high proportion of foreign funding,\u201d Dhillon said. \u201cStanford has a high proportion of foreign students from Asia and foreign funding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7105\">Valkyries get Sala\u00fcn, Stokes back as they look to clinch playoff spot, slow Paige Bueckers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Stanford said in a statement that it conducts \u201crigorous due diligence for all philanthropic gifts and sponsored research, with enhanced scrutiny applied to international sources, particularly those from countries of concern.\u201d The university said it reviews \u201crestricted party screening, assessment of ties to foreign governments, and evaluation of research security implications, among other measures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stanford also said it reserves the right to decline any gift \u2014 domestic or international \u2014 if the source of funds raises legal or ethical concerns.<\/p>\n<p>In June, Dhillon\u2019s office launched a probe into Harvard University over possible foreign influence in its financial aid decisions. Dhillon said she plans to investigate more colleges over similar issues.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>RELATED: Stanford, UC Berkeley rank among world\u2019s top universities as research funding faces cuts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After being sworn in last year, Dhillon sent letters to 50 top institutions of higher learning, scrutinizing their undergraduate admissions practices. She followed those with more letters seeking information from law and medical schools.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration froze federal funding to more than half a dozen universities before Dhillon was sworn in, but she eventually took on a leading role in negotiating settlements to restore it, including with Cornell University, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Harvard, which is still locked in a legal battle with the administration over the freeze, has yet to make a deal with the administration, and the DOJ has continued to open lawsuits and investigations into the school. Dhillon said that while talks had slowed, she still sees a path to a possible settlement.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7103\">San Jose man arrested in connection with June shooting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com<\/p>\n<p>\u00a92026 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division opened an investigation into admissions practices at Stanford\u2019s medical school in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>DOJ official flags Stanford for scrutiny over foreign donations - 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