As the new Trump administration is now governing full steam ahead, sovereignty is back with a vengeance.
With inaugural balls still lingering in Washington’s atmosphere, Donald Trump wasted no time in reimplementing aspects of American sovereignty that were dismantled or neglected during Joe Biden’s time in office. In a flurry of executive orders, Trump canceled asylum appointments at the United States-Mexico border, laid the groundwork for ICE deportations, and withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accords. On the economic front, Trump is planning tariffs on China to curtail the flow of fentanyl. At universities, Trump signed an executive order allowing the deportation of foreign students who express support for Hamas.
In Washington, sovereignty may be the new black; however, restoring sovereignty in higher education is a pressing issue of national security as much as it is a matter of education reform. Foreign influence from U.S. adversaries such as China, Iran, and other countries with values antithetical to American interests pose a threat to America’s qualitative military advantage, prosperity, and the integrity of foreign policy.
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In 2023, New York’s Alfred University closed its Confucius Institute after it was discovered to be partnering with a Chinese university tied to the People’s Liberation Army. Alfred University was simultaneously doing hypersonic missile research for the Department of Defense. In September of last year, Georgia Tech withdrew from its own China initiative in the Shenzhen Institute after its Chinese partner, Tianjin University, was added as a designated entity threatening America’s national security. Already in 2025, the University of Michigan ended its program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University due to its involvement in the development of nuclear weapons and submarines.
America’s universities are actively undermining national security for the sake of international prestige. That Universities seek ties to China is understandable, as Beijing offers funding, lavish trips, and a river of foreign students willing to pay to attend America’s colleges. In 2019 and 2020, 49 percent of master’s degrees and 57 percent of doctoral degrees in STEM fields were given to international students. The majority of these students were from China or India.
As a foremost state sponsor of terrorism, Iran is very active in American higher education. After the Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023, college campuses became overtly hostile to Jewish students thanks to pro-Palestinian protests and encampments. Last July, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines stated that Tehran was encouraging and financing these same student protests. This round, like others before it, involved Iran using local grassroots front groups and nonprofits to support anti-Semitism and Islamist organizing.
Rebel rousing aside, Iran has likely had access to the highest rungs of American policy due to academia. Robert Malley, the Obama administration’s lead negotiator for the Iran nuclear deal and the Biden administration’s special envoy to Tehran, was placed on leave over his security clearance. Of critical concern was whether or not Malley assisted in positioning an Iranian influence network into high levels of foreign policy decision-making. Regardless of the risks, both Yale and Princeton hired Malley after his dismissal. In elite academia, political influence is never far away or out of reach.
Higher education is known for foreign espionage activity. Manuel Rocha, a Yale graduate and former U.S. diplomat, was sentenced to 15 years in prison last year after being convicted of working as a spy for Cuba. Upon sentencing, Rocha attributed his radicalization to his time at the Ivy League school. Borders and tariffs are great tools to reinforce sovereignty, but they mean little if elite institutions allow foreign adversaries access to the means of policy and scientific advancement.
If the Trump administration is serious about sovereignty, higher education cannot be ignored. Countries that are designated countries of concern, such as those on the State Department’s watchlist, which includes countries like China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia, should not have access to America’s institutions of higher education. Restoring sovereignty in higher education means reducing the influence of the individuals and funds that undermine it.
Professors engaged in research with counterparts in hostile countries or who receive foreign funds should be forced to register as foreign agents. Currently, the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) exempts “religious, scholastic, academic, fine arts, or scientific pursuits” from activities that mandate an individual to register as a foreign agent. Academia neatly fits most of these exemptions despite the fact that foreign adversaries actively exploit it. FARA must be amended to either eliminate these loopholes or place universities exclusively within FARA’s purview.
Foreign funds are one stream of the lifeblood of higher education. Currently, colleges and universities are mandated to report foreign gifts by the Higher Education Act of 1965. Despite this mandate, higher education regularly skirts its responsibility to report the “gifts” it receives. Worse, enforcement is typically nonexistent. Eliminating malign foreign influence in funding to universities means changing the incentives universities face. Restoring sovereignty here means taxing foreign funds from hostile powers at a rate of 100 percent and installing compliance officers who are tasked with reporting to the Internal Revenue Service. Placing these compliance officers under the authority of trustees would insulate them from administrative oversight and allow them to do their jobs.
The winds of policy change are here, and sovereignty in education needs to be included.
Ian Oxnevad is a Senior Fellow for Foreign Affairs and Security Studies at the National Association of Scholars.
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