Qatar has spent more than $65 million to influence U.S. education over the past 17 years through Qatar Foundation International, with efforts targeting all levels of education including K-12, universities, teacher training programs and national education networks, according to a new report from the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy.

ISGAP, in its report, called for a federal investigation of Qatar’s influence efforts targeting American education — and some lawmakers on Capitol Hill appear eager to join those inquiries.

“Given the scale, duration, and structure of these activities, this is not a series of isolated educational programs. The 54-page report, ‘Institutional Capture,’ specifically documents how foreign-linked funding was used to shape educational content and educator training in ways that were not transparent to institutions, regulators, or the public,” Charles Asher Small, ISGAP’s executive director, said in a statement. “These findings require decisive action. We are calling on federal authorities to conduct a full review of these activities, to examine how they intersect with publicly funded programs, and to ensure that transparency and accountability are upheld across the entire education system.”

The report alleges that QFI has gone significantly further than supporting Arab-language education, as QFI now claims is its goal, and has instead undertaken efforts to exercise influence over social studies, science, technology, art and mathematics curricula, activism and educational professional development programs — and deliberately engaged in efforts to shield its work and influence, using the credibility of host organizations to which it provided funding.

“It is the realized embodiment of defined civilizational jihad against Western society outlined by the Muslim Brotherhood decades ago, entrenching and embedding its influence within Western educational institutions to transform their narratives to align with the ideology of political Islam,” the report asserts.

The report alleges that QFI has created a “new baseline standard of pedagogy” that casts doubt on Israel’s existence, rejects efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Arab states and “normalizes and relativizes terrorism.”

The report alleges that QFI’s funding efforts have most heavily targeted states with particular strategic influence — large immigrant populations, major metropolitan areas or states with particular political capital.

The report highlights that QFI has partnered with Middle East National Resource Centers — federally funded hubs at universities that support Middle Eastern language training, research, K-12 education and public outreach activities — working to disseminate QFI materials to educators in K-12 programs and institutions of higher education.

QFI-distributed curriculum materials for teachers in Arabic language, social studies, arts and humanities programs advanced anti-Israel and pro-Qatar narratives, according to the report. And it provided direct grant funding to individual teachers.

In some cases, QFI held direct oversight and review power over specific lesson plans developed by teachers in professional development programs it funded. 

QFI funded multiyear teacher leadership programs that brought educators to Doha and guided them on developing curricula on the Middle East. Such teachers were then tasked with training their fellow educators, creating a scaling model that further distributed QFI’s material and ideology.

It also filled the speaker lineups at national social studies conferences with QFI-trained presenters to advance its priorities and narratives, the report states.

QFI additionally exercised strong influence or direct control over various professional teaching organizations focused on Arabic and Middle East education, using them to spread QFI’s influence at educational conferences and in professional networks. 

It further facilitated a program with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to bring UNRWA officials into U.S. classrooms and partner classrooms with UNRWA schools, leveraging its connections with the federally backed National Resource Centers to promote the program.

The report accuses QFI of deliberately acting to misrepresent itself as a U.S.-based nonprofit organization to educators, despite having terminated its nonprofit status in 2011 and moving its headquarters to Doha in 2014, according to Qatari news reports at the time.

“The organization has had a huge impact on US education on the Middle East over the past fifteen years, permeating curriculum development, teaching materials, website and database content, student engagement, professional development, and professional networks,” the report concludes. “This is compounded by a pattern of organizational deception that extends to QFI’s relationships with federal authorities and educational institutions, exploiting gaps in foreign agent registration requirements and educational oversight mechanisms.”

The report calls for an immediate ban on further Qatari state or QFI funding of U.S. schools or development programs, for federal investigations into QFI and the National Resource Centers that were infiltrated by QFI and for QFI to be required to register as a foreign agent.

It also calls for changes to U.S. law to require greater disclosure of QFI and other funding for schools, greater transparency for the National Resource Centers and other accountability measures for schools, professional organizations and school curricula.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) called the report “shocking” and said it demonstrates the “institutional capture” of the U.S. education system at all levels “by foreign adversaries who seek to control and manipulate the American education system.”

“This comprehensive report uncovers what I have investigated on the Education and Workforce Committee: that the Qatari government has systematically operated across various layers of our education system through strings-attached partnerships with universities, manipulation of taxpayer funded Title VI Middle East National Resource Centers, and curriculum development,” Stefanik said.

She said that lawmakers will continue to examine disclosure and oversight requirements and guarantee U.S. higher education “is not influenced by national security threats.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) likewise said more transparency is needed.

“American classrooms should never serve as vehicles for foreign government influence. When a regime like Qatar’s quietly shapes what is taught, who is invited to speak, and which ideas are amplified on our campuses, the American people have a right to know,” Gottheimer said. “We must safeguard our curriculums from outside interference, enforce full compliance with disclosure laws, and demand real accountability from schools and universities.”

Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA), who chairs a subcommittee on the House Education and Workforce Committee, said that he plans to work with ISGAP and House colleagues to “to protect academic integrity from foreign agendas.”

“In contravention of Qatar’s representations that QFI funds only grants for foreign language, the report documents more than $65 million in funding for more than 220 programs between 2009 and 2025, through which QFI built a scaled and national network of influence over educators in areas that went far beyond language acquisition and reached K-12 schools, colleges, and universities,” Kiley said.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said that “no foreign government should be allowed to quietly shape what American students are taught” and that “Americans deserve to know” about such efforts.

“Just as we’ve raised concerns about influence campaigns tied to China and other foreign adversaries, we should take seriously any effort by foreign-linked entities to embed themselves within our educational institutions,” Moskowitz said in a statement. “This report raises legitimate concerns about whether existing safeguards are sufficient to combat foreign-funded entities meddling in American education. I strongly urge Congress to examine these findings closely and take concrete steps to ensure foreign governments cannot use America’s classrooms as vehicles for influence campaigns.”