The Department of Education said Friday it is investigating the University of California, Berkeley, regarding possible violations of the law regarding the disclosure of foreign gifts and contracts.

The investigation is similar to one the department launched last week against Harvard University after a review of the Ivy League institution's foreign reports revealed incomplete and inaccurate disclosures.

Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 requires postsecondary institutions receiving federal funds to disclose foreign gifts and contracts worth $250,000 or more annually to the Education Department. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order calling for more oversight on possible Section 117 violations.

The department announced the UC Berkeley investigation in a news release in which it revealed that its Office of General Counsel will reassume the department's enforcement functions relating to Section 117, reversing a move by the Biden administration to have those duties handled by the Office of Federal Student Aid, which was already tasked with administering federal student aid programs.

"The Biden-Harris administration turned a blind eye to colleges and universities' legal obligations by deprioritizing oversight and allowing foreign gifts to pour onto American campuses," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. "Despite widespread compliance failures, no new Section 117 investigations were initiated for four years, and ongoing investigations were closed prematurely.

"I have great confidence in my Office of General Counsel to investigate these matters fully, and they will begin by thoroughly examining UC Berkeley's apparent failure to fully and accurately disclose significant funding received from foreign sources."

The department said that in May 2023, "credible news media reports indicated that Berkeley had failed to disclose … hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from a foreign government."

After reviewing those reports and of UC Berkeley's Section 117 disclosure submissions, the department said in June 2023 it sent a letter to Berkeley requesting that it address the allegations.

In its responses, the department said UC Berkeley acknowledged having failed to report millions of dollars in foreign government funding and detailed a multiyear effort to cultivate a close relationship with and secure financial commitments from foreign government-controlled entities.

"Berkeley's responses revealed a fundamental misunderstanding regarding its Section 117 reporting obligations," the department said.

Dan Mogulof, assistant vice chancellor of the UC Berkeley communications and public affairs office, told the Los Angeles Times on Friday the school has already been in contact with federal authorities about the issue.

"Over the course of the last two years, UC Berkeley has been cooperating with federal inquiries regarding [Section] 117 reporting issues, and will continue to do so," Mogulof said.

The inquiry revives a 2023 House investigation of the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, a partnership between UC Berkeley's College of Engineering and China's Tsinghua University that began in 2016, according to the Times.

The investigation by the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party revealed that UC Berkeley hauled in $220 million from Chinese government officials to build a joint Tsinghua-Berkeley Institute in the city of Shenzhen — but never reported the payment despite its price exceeding the mandatory disclosure threshold of Section 117.

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