U.S. colleges and universities are now under scrutiny in the wake of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder for having received hundreds of millions of dollars from the Saudi Arabian government. MIT and George Washington University lead all other schools, receiving more than $75 million each from the Saudis.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been funneled from the Saudi government to scores of American schools in the last decade.
The U.S. colleges and universities are now coming under scrutiny for these financial ties in the wake of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
The U.S. Department of Education data reveals funding from 2011 through 2017. The Education Department’s Foreign Gifts and Contracts Report shows foreign funding to U.S. universities that accepted $250,000 or more in one year.
Saudi-Affiliated Funding to U.S. Universities
SOURCE: Department of Education (numbers rounded)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology — $77.7 million
- George Washington University — $76 million
- George Mason University — $63.1 million
- Tufts University — $46.1 million
- Johns Hopkins University — $40.3 million
- University of Kansas — $30.1 million
- Harvard University — $28.2 million
- Stanford University — $27.8 million
- University of Southern California — $22.7 million
- Northwestern University — $14.4 million
- Georgia Institute of Technology — $13.4 million
- University of California, Berkeley — $13.4 million
- Eastern Washington University — $13.1 million
- New York Institute of Technology — $12.3 million
- University of California, Los Angeles — $12 million
- Ball State University — $10.4 million
- University of Washington-Seattle — $10.2 million
According to The Associated Press, much of the money was provided through scholarship programs for Saudi nationals studying in the United States, with at least $62 million of the funds coming through contracts or gifts from Saudi Arabia’s government-owned companies and research institutes.
Among the universities benefiting from Saudi contracts, Northwestern University has received $14 million since 2011 from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, a top Saudi research center. The University of California, Los Angeles also accepted $6 million from the center.
Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, Saudi Aramco, has also funneled $9 million to Texas A&M University, and $4 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
A “Global MIT” website lists 22 university initiatives involving projects having to do with Saudi Arabia. Many focus on researching and bettering the kingdom’s energy and water issues, infrastructure planning, and urban traffic system, among many other topics.
Another program is called “Conflict and Cooperation in the Muslim World.”
After facing criticism amid Khashoggi’s murder, MIT released a statement that it will “conduct a swift, thorough reassessment of MIT’s Institute-level engagements with entities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
“The disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the allegations about his fate and those responsible for it are matters of grave concern to all of us,” the statement reads, “All of us should recognize that MIT has enjoyed highly productive educational and research collaborations with colleagues and partners in Saudi Arabia over many decades.”
“As we consider how to respond to current events, individual faculty members who have or are considering engagements with Saudi Arabia will make their own determinations as to the best path forward.”
U.S. universities have also received a combined $140 million from private Saudi sources, universities, and hospitals, which does not include money directly from the Saudi government or its government-controlled entities.
Another $114 million could not be accounted for because the universities did not report the specific source of the funding within Saudi Arabia, according to AP, which included about $40 million at Johns Hopkins University and $28 million at Harvard University.
The University of California, Berkeley, said it will not be reviewing its Saudi funding, and Northwestern University refused to say whether any of its funding is under review, according to AP.
Moreover, Tufts University said that while school officials find this news “deeply concerning,” they remain committed to global engagement, while many other universities have given no indications they’re reconsidering their financial ties with Saudi Arabia.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.
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