The Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law urged the Department of Education on Monday to promptly release a long-delayed report on sources of foreign funding to American colleges and universities.

The records were set to be published last week under Sec. 117 of the Higher Education Act, but were delayed for the fourth time in two months, according to the Brandeis Center. The records were initially slated for release in mid-July. The Brandeis Center also filed a Freedom of Information Act request aiming to force disclosure of the reports, identities of those providing foreign funding and the details of the transactions.

In a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Brandeis Center’s general counsel, Evan Slavitt, said that the “repeated postponements are increasingly difficult to reconcile with the transparency objectives of Section 117 and the Department’s own stated commitment to publishing this information. Moreover, the Department has not publicly identified the legal basis for continuing to withhold information that it has repeatedly announced would be released.”

Slavitt emphasized that disclosing the specific sources of foreign funding “can be critical to understanding the nature of the financial relationship, including whether funds originate with or pass through foreign governments, state-controlled entities, foundations, corporations, affiliates, or other intermediaries.”

Given the billions of dollars involved, he emphasized that this financing raises questions about “foreign influence, academic independence, research security, and compliance with other federal laws.”

U.S. colleges received $5 billion in foreign funding last year, with Qatar being the largest donor.

Slavitt urged the Department of Education to publish the report by Sept. 11, as well as to make public all underlying disclosure reports from colleges.

“The public should not be left waiting indefinitely as one announced disclosure date after another passes,” the letter states. “If there is a legitimate legal impediment preventing the Department from releasing this information, the Department should identify it. If there is not, the information should be released without further delay.”

Brandeis Center CEO Kenneth Marcus, a former assistant secretary of education, said in a statement, “While we commend Secretary McMahon for her prior work to increase transparency, the American people have a right to know more.”

“Four postponements in less than two months leave the American people waiting for information about foreign funding of higher-ed institutions that federal law requires to be open to scrutinization,” Marcus continued. “Americans deserve to know which foreign governments, state-controlled entities, or their intermediaries are sending billions of dollars into our campuses and classrooms and what influence may accompany that money. The Department should release the names and transaction information without further delay.”

Karen Paikin Barall, chief policy officer for the Brandeis Center, said in a statement, “The American people have a right to know who is funding our universities and what influence that funding may buy.”

“When foreign governments and entities provide billions of dollars to American institutions of higher education, that information should not be hidden from public view. Congress enacted Section 117 precisely because transparency matters,” Barall continued. “Students, parents, policymakers, and the American public deserve to know where this money is coming from and whether it is influencing what is taught, who is teaching it, and the policies and programs our universities pursue.”