Pentagon Audit: 30 Universities Cut Ties to Blacklisted Foreign Labs
The Pentagon says research security audits led 30 universities to end ties with Section 1286-listed foreign institutions, with over 80 terminations.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2026 — The Department of War said 30 U.S. universities have completed research security audits it ordered in August and have cut off identified ties with foreign institutions on a federal blacklist. The department’s announcement said the audits produced “more than 80 termination-related actions.”
What the audits found
According to the department, all 30 schools “fully mitigated identified relationships” with entities on the latest NDAA Section 1286 list, published in July 2026. The terminations included ties to listed entities as well as “precautionary terminations involving entities not specifically identified on the list.”
The department named seven universities it said “went above and beyond”:
- Oklahoma State University
- The Pennsylvania State University
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of South Carolina
- University of Southern California
- University of Texas at Austin
- Virginia Tech
The department did not name the foreign partners involved or list which agreements each school ended.
What the Section 1286 list is
The list comes from Section 1286 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. The Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering publishes it to identify foreign academic and research institutions with which Pentagon-funded fundamental research collaboration is restricted. Inside Higher Ed reported that the current list names 130 institutions in China, Iran and Russia.
The department’s Academic Research Security program sets out how proposals from researchers with ties to those institutions are reviewed. In August, the department told the 30 schools to audit their academic, financial and research connections to listed entities, DefenseScoop reported.
Officials warn of more reviews
“Our work will continue,” said Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. “Institutions that fail to meet research security standards are on notice: taxpayer dollars will not support institutions whose partnerships put the American warfighter or the Nation’s technological advantage at risk.”
Joseph Jewell, Assistant Secretary of War for Science and Technology, said the seven named schools “took bold, self-initiated steps to protect their labs, faculty, and intellectual property from foreign exploitation.”
The department said it will keep updating the list and “assess universities that retain problematic relationships with entities on the list.”
Analysis: what it means
The audits show the Pentagon using research funding as leverage over campus partnerships, not only over individual grants. Because the department did not say whether any school will lose funding, the practical cost of the 80-plus terminations is still unclear. Watch for the next update to the Section 1286 list and whether a second round of audits reaches schools outside the first 30.
Sources
- U.S. Department of War: Research Security Mitigation Results From Academic Institutions (Oct. 19, 2026)
- OUSW(R&E): NDAA Section 1286 List
- Basic Research Office: Academic Research Security
