With nearly $2.8 billion in foreign funding over four decades, the University of Pennsylvania outpaces all other schools in Greater Philadelphia by quite a wide margin, write Mike D’Onofrio, Jason Lalljee, Ryan Deto, and Chrissy Suttles for AXIOS Philadelphia.
The data was released following an executive order by President Donald Trump last year that enforced Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. This required colleges and universities to report any significant foreign funding sources between 1986 and Dec. 16, 2025.
Germany accounted for the majority of Penn’s foreign funding, contributing a total of $1.9 billion. China follows with $210.2 million. The U.S. Department of State currently classifies China as a “country of concern.”
A Penn spokesperson said that the university is “compliant with Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, and we will continue to comply with it.”
Other Philadelphia schools with substantial foreign funding during the same time period included Temple University with $217.8 million, Drexel University with $63.7 million, Thomas Jefferson University with $41.9 million, the Curtis Institute of Music with $10 million, and St. Joseph’s University with $6.1 million.
Read more about how Philadelphia-area fare among each other in regards to foreign funding in AXIOS Philadelphia.
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