Cornell received over $3 billion from foreign nations in 2025, with sources in Qatar granting the most in gifts and contracts, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Education on Jan. 2. The University ranked second overall among 527 institutions that received foreign funds.
Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, passed in 1965, requires U.S. colleges and universities receiving federal financial assistance to biannually disclose any gifts, contracts or other forms of aid from foreign sources valued at $250,000 or more in a calendar year to the ED.
A gift between the University and a foreign country is defined as “financial support” given to the University in the form of cash, marketable securities, tangible assets or consumable commodities. These forms of payment made up a little over 11% of the foreign funds. A contract is defined as an agreement for the “acquisition by purchase, lease or barter of property or services” given by the foreign source for “for the direct benefit or use of either of the parties,” according to Cornell Law.
Qatar is the largest source of funds to U.S. colleges at $6.6 billion. The country granted Cornell the most money of the universities at $2.29 billion. According to the released data, Cornell had 1,711 different transactions with foreign nations in 2025.
India, Switzerland and Hong Kong were the next biggest donors, each granting over $75 million to the University. Harvard, the only other university receiving more foreign funds than Cornell, received most of its funds from England and Switzerland.
The University does have a campus in Qatar, Weill Cornell Medicine at Qatar, which a University spokesperson told The Sun receives funding to help “operate” the campus.
“Budgeted funding for the medical school in Qatar has averaged approximately $156 million per year from 2012 to 2025, totaling $2.2 billion,” a University spokesperson told The Sun. “Virtually all funding remains in Qatar for Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar school operations.”
The $156 million of the annual budgeted funding for the Qatar campus would make up 6.8% of the reported $2.29 billion granted in 2025. The University did not clarify whether the budget for Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar comes from Qatar’s $2.29 billion of contracts and gifts.
The transactions are divided into contracts, restricted contracts, gifts and restricted gifts given to the University. Contracts and restricted contracts were valued at $2.7 billion and are managed by the Global Operations office.
“Foreign funding - which may come from individuals, foundations, corporations, governments, or other entities based outside of the U.S. - allows universities to expand the scope of their research and train the next generation of scholars in a globally competitive environment,” a University spokesperson wrote to The Sun.
When asked why the University receives aid from foreign nations, a University spokesperson told The Sun that the funds help increase collaborations across the world. The University affirmed that it “complies” with all laws regarding foreign funds.
“Most scientific challenges and their solutions transcend national borders and require international expertise, data, facilities, and collaborations,” a University spokesperson wrote to The Sun. “[Funding] allows universities to expand the scope of their research and train the next generation of scholars in a globally competitive environment.”
A University spokesperson also affirmed Cornell’s “institutional independence of its management and operations in its contractual relationships, foreign and domestic.”
Zeinab Faraj is a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the features editor on the 143rd Editorial Board and was the assistant sports editor of the 143rd Editorial Board. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
