The Pentagon has ordered 30 U.S. universities to audit their research and financial ties with potential adversarial foreign entities by August 31, or risk losing future federal research funding.

Just the News reports that the schools, including New York University, Harvard and Georgetown University, must review identified foreign collaborations and assess any exposure of “sensitive or export-controlled research.”

🚨 BREAKING: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has immediately ordered AUDITS into 30 academic institutions regarding financial and research links to FOREIGN ENTITIES of concern

They must comply, or risk LOSING federal dollars 🔥

LFG!

PENTAGON: “The Department of War has zero… pic.twitter.com/Kq1eAOj3u1

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 17, 2026

The selected schools must also implement plans to mitigate actions that violate national security protocol and even terminate relationships with foreign institutions if necessary.

In a Department of War press release on Monday, Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, stated:

The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security. Institutions that receive funding from American taxpayers must uphold the highest standards of research security, and these mandated audits will ensure accountability across the board.

Fox News reports the audits target foreign entities named under Section 1286 of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act which identifies 130 academic and research institutions located in China, Russia and Iran, engaging in “activities that increase the likelihood of U.S. government-funded research and development efforts being misappropriated.”

In recent years, a number of universities and colleges across the United States have chosen to shut their doors to their China-tied Confucius Institutes amid concerns over the centers’ funding connection to Beijing.

Dr. Joseph Jewell, Assistant Secretary of War for Science and Technology, said in Monday’s press release, “Universities are critical partners in executing a wide range of Department of War research programs, and the Department must therefore ensure that our research investments are well protected from foreign exploitation.”

Other American institutions on the list include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, San Diego, University of Texas at Austin, Emory University, Oklahoma State University, Penn State University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, University of Southern California, Cornell University, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University and Northeastern State University.