S. 1296 119th Congress Senate

DETERRENT Act

Official title: A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to strengthen disclosure requirements relating to foreign gifts and contracts, to prohibit contracts between i… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to strengthen disclosure requirements relating to foreign gifts and contracts, to prohibit contracts between institutions of higher education and certain foreign entities and countries of concern, and for other purposes.

Introduced: April 3, 2025 Introduced by: Thom Tillis Republican · North Carolina See on congress.gov

Education

Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Apr 3, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Apr 3, 2025

Introduced in Senate

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What's happening now April 3, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions Act or the DETERRENT Act

This bill expands oversight and disclosure requirements related to foreign sources and institutions of higher education (IHEs).

Specifically, the bill requires an IHE to annually disclose to the Department of Education (ED) any year in which the IHE

receives a gift from a foreign country of concern (e.g., China or Russia) or foreign entity of concern of any dollar amount;
receives a gift or contract from a foreign source (other than a foreign country of concern or foreign entity of concern) that is valued at $50,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts or contracts within a calendar year (current disclosure threshold is $250,000 or more), or which has an undetermined monetary value;
enters into a contract with a foreign country of concern or foreign entity of concern after receiving a waiver for such contract; or
is substantially controlled by a foreign source.

Additionally, the bill

prohibits IHEs from entering into contracts with a foreign country of concern or with a foreign entity of concern without obtaining a waiver, and
requires certain IHEs to disclose gifts or contracts between covered individuals (e.g., researchers) and foreign sources.

The bill requires ED to investigate possible violations of this bill and outlines the various penalties for each violation. Penalties may include losing eligibility for federal student financial aid.

Related & companion bills 1

Bill text 1 version

Introduced in Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 1

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Senate

Lobbying activity 96

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION
for REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
COUNCIL FOR ADVANCEMENT AND SUPPORT OF EDUCATION
for COUNCIL FOR ADVANCEMENT AND SUPPORT OF EDUCATION · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
for JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · Maryland · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
for VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · Tennessee · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
NATIONAL ASSN OF INDEPENDENT COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
for NATIONAL ASSN OF INDEPENDENT COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
for THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)

Bodies those filers lobbied

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
92 filings
SENATE
92 filings
Education, Dept of
23 filings
Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS)
12 filings
Commerce, Dept of (DOC)
11 filings
Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS)
11 filings
State, Dept of (DOS)
11 filings
White House Office
11 filings

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

See all 96 filings →

Cosponsors 24