DETERRENT Act

The DETERRENT Act (H.R. 1048) is a federal bill that would update the Higher Education Act of 1965. It requires colleges and universities to report gifts and contracts from foreign sources of $50,000 or more. It would also ban contracts with countries seen as threats to the U.S. The Department of Education would build a public, searchable database of these disclosures. The House passed the bill on March 27, 2025. It now sits before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Colleges in Houston receive foreign money. This bill would make those payments public and block some foreign contracts, which could affect university funding and programs in the area.