The Trump administration is turning up the heat on higher education, and this time the target is the University of Michigan. On Tuesday, the Department of Education launched an official investigation into the school for allegedly misrepresenting millions of dollars in foreign funding—some of which may have come from hostile foreign governments, including China.

According to the announcement, UM reported foreign funds as coming from “nongovernmental entities,” despite the fact that many of those sources have clear ties to foreign regimes. Chief Investigative Counsel Paul Moore accused the university of failing to disclose critical information and warned that its research labs remain “vulnerable to sabotage,” including what the Department of Justice has already flagged as “potential agroterrorism” connected to Chinese nationals.

This latest federal action stems from an escalating series of concerns surrounding UM’s foreign partnerships. Back in June, the DOJ charged two Chinese nationals linked to the university with smuggling biologically hazardous materials into the U.S.—raising fears that UM’s labs could be a staging ground for hostile activity.

Moore didn’t hold back, slamming the university’s behavior as deceptive and potentially dangerous: “As the recipient of federal research funding, UM has both a moral and legal obligation to be completely transparent about its foreign partnerships,” he said. But the university, he continued, has reported tens of millions in foreign funding either late or inaccurately, mislabeling government-affiliated donors as harmless NGOs.

Investigators are demanding a sweeping release of documents from UM, including full financial records, all agreements with foreign entities, and even a list of every foreign student and staff member on campus. While UM has yet to publicly respond, the federal government’s concerns aren’t new.

Earlier this year, under pressure from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the university ended a 20-year partnership with a Chinese university over espionage and national security concerns. That followed widespread scrutiny of Chinese influence in American academia—something the Trump administration has made a top priority to root out.

In line with this strategy, Trump signed an executive order in April mandating full transparency from American universities regarding foreign donations and contracts. The White House has also signaled that reforms to the foreign student visa program are underway, particularly in light of growing support for foreign extremist organizations on U.S. campuses.

UM’s issues don’t stop at foreign funding, either. The school recently closed its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and terminated its DEI 2.0 strategic plan, in response to Trump’s executive orders rolling back DEI policies across federal agencies and institutions receiving taxpayer dollars. While those moves drew backlash from the academic left, they signaled a clear shift in federal education policy toward rooting out ideological and foreign threats on campus.

The allegations now surfacing in the Michigan case could serve as a model for similar investigations. Moore made it clear the Office of General Counsel would not hesitate to act: “OGC will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that the American people know the true scope of foreign funding and influence on our campuses.”

With the Trump administration cracking down on universities accused of shady international ties, UM may soon be the first domino to fall in a larger national effort to expose and eliminate foreign infiltration in American higher education. And as ties between academia and the Chinese Communist Party continue to raise alarms, it’s clear that the era of unchallenged global partnerships is quickly coming to an end.