Trump administration investigating Duke’s relationship with Wuhan University

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Duke University’s relationship with Wuhan University in China as part of its effort to monitor U.S. universities’ ties with certain foreign governments.

2026-09-17

Duke University and Wuhan University first partnered in 2013 to establish a new university in Kunshan, China, called Duke Kunshan University. It first enrolled students in 2018.

Under federal law, universities that receive federal funding must disclose foreign contracts and gifts of $250,000 or more per year.

The federal education department is questioning the accuracy of the records submitted by Duke, which is one of two universities the department announced investigations into Wednesday. The other is the University of North Dakota.

The department believes the universities misidentified “governmental” partners as “nongovernmental” partners and provided “untimely and incomplete foreign funding disclosures,” according to the department’s announcement.

The U.S. Department of Education letter, dated Sept. 15, includes three pages of records the administration is asking Duke to release within 30 days. They include tax records, compliance documents and documents detailing a wide variety of agreements.

“Duke University received correspondence from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of State regarding compliance with federal foreign gift and contract reporting requirements,” a university spokesman said in a statement to WRAL News. “We are reviewing the letter carefully. Duke is committed to complying with the law and will continue to do so in a manner that is consistent with our academic mission.”

A central part of the dispute surrounds Duke Kunshan University itself. The federal education department says the Chinese government now requires joint venture universities, such as DKU, to be governed by China’s Ministry of Education and to have a Chinese Communist Party-run unit that monitors operations and has a say in significant administrative tasks.

In August, the federal Department of Defense asked Duke and 29 other research universities to review their academic, financial and research collaborations with “foreign entities of concern.”

The defense department publishes a list each year of foreign institutions “engaging in problematic activities.” It lists numerous entities in China, including universities, but doesn’t list Wuhan University, Duke Kunshan University or China’s MInistry of Education.

The federal education department letter said Wuhan University plays a key role in China’s national defense and is involved in military research. The department also cites a 2025 letter to Duke from the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party that urged the university to end what the committee believed were the university’s ties to the Chinese government, accusing DKU of contributing to Chinese military training.

In a statement to WRAL News, the Chinese Embassy in the United States called China-U.S. educational exchanges "mutually beneficial."

It continues, "China opposes overstretching the concept of national security and politicizing normal educational cooperation, and hopes the U.S. will create favorable conditions for such exchanges."

This week’s announcement is just the latest of actions taken by the Trump administration against Duke. Other actions include freezing $108 million in funding for Duke Health over the U.S. Department of Education’s assertion that the university illegally used racial preference in medical school admissions, hiring and other activities. In August, the U.S. Department of Justice said Duke gave preferential treatment to certain races in law school admissions.