The CAMPUS Act is designed to protect American national security by limiting certain research and educational partnerships with Chinese institutions that support the Chinese military. Here's what it does in practical terms:

For universities and research institutions, the bill prevents them from receiving Department of Defense research funding if they work with Chinese colleges identified as supporting the People's Liberation Army. It also blocks these institutions from getting security clearances needed to handle classified information if they have active research partnerships with those same Chinese universities. Additionally, any organization receiving federal research funding cannot maintain contracts with these identified Chinese institutions or with companies on the U.S. Commerce Department's restricted entity list.

The bill also affects schools and visa policy. K-12 schools that have contracts with Chinese entities lose eligibility for federal education funding. The State Department gains the power to deny student and work visas to people from the identified Chinese universities. On the reporting side, universities must now disclose foreign gifts and contracts to the Education Department at lower thresholds than before, making it easier for the government to track international academic ties.

On a positive note, the bill encourages Mandarin language and Chinese cultural education by authorizing grants to American schools and colleges—but only when these programs come from Taiwanese entities rather than mainland China. Essentially, the law aims to prevent American research dollars and security clearances from indirectly supporting Chinese military development while still allowing cultural and language education from approved sources.

CAMPUS Act

Lankford, James

Countering Adversarial and Malicious Partnerships at Universities and Schools Act of 2023 or CAMPUS ActThis bill limits certain interactions with Chinese entities. Specifically, the bill<ul><li>requires the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to identify institutions of higher education in China providing support to the People's Liberation Army;</li><li>prohibits the Department of Defense from providing research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&amp;E) funds to entities that maintain contracts with such identified Chinese institutions of higher education;</li><li>prohibits the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency from granting eligibility to host or store classified information to those entities with an active research partnership with such identified Chinese institutions of higher education;</li><li>authorizes the Department of State to deny entry visas to students and employees of such identified Chinese institutions of higher education;</li><li>prohibits the Department of Education (ED) from providing funds for K-12 education to an elementary or secondary school that maintains a contract with entities in China;</li><li>prohibits federal&nbsp;RDT&amp;E funds from being provided to an entity that maintains a contract with such identified Chinese institutions of higher education or a Chinese entity on the Entity List maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security in the Department of Commerce; and</li><li>lowers the minimum amount of foreign gifts or contracts benefiting an institution of higher education that must be reported to ED by the institution.</li></ul>The bill also authorizes ED to provide grants to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education to support Mandarin language instruction and Chinese cultural programming provided by certain Taiwanese entities.&nbsp;