Letter from President Armacost Regarding DoE Investigation

Editor’s note: The following letter was sent from the Office of the President to the campus community on Monday, Sept. 21.

Dear members of the campus community:

I am writing to address recent news reports regarding the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of State investigation concerning the University of North Dakota’s reporting of foreign funding.

UND received a letter from the Department of Education on Sept. 15, 2026, notifying us of their investigation. We will work diligently with federal agencies to provide the requested information and address the concerns raised. The University is committed to compliance with federal and state laws and policies and takes its foreign funding reporting requirements very seriously.

There are several points that have been stated in the media that I want to clarify regarding information included in the Department of Education’s announcement.

There are no known connections between Chinese aviation companies and UND’s unmanned aircraft systems research. The Department of Education did not contact UND about these concerns before announcing its investigation, and UND is unaware of any connection between China and its UAS program. In fact, non-U.S. students may not enroll in our UAS academic programs and do not have access to sensitive information or equipment associated with these programs.

While some media outlets have mentioned Duke University along with UND, we have no connection to Duke University in this matter or to work being conducted in Wuhan, China. Duke is the subject of a separate federal investigation that was announced at the same time as the investigation involving UND.

With respect to claims of inaccurate or incomplete reporting of foreign funding, we will ask for clarification from the investigators. Since the publishing of an October 2020 Department of Education report stressing the urgency of U.S. universities’ compliance with foreign fund reporting requirements, UND has thoroughly reported foreign funds received by the University and its affiliated organizations. UND knows the importance of federal reporting requirements and is committed to abiding by those requirements.

UND has a longstanding commitment to supporting national security through our research and education programs, and we carefully protect data associated with that work. We take this responsibility very seriously, and we will cooperate fully with federal officials as the investigation proceeds and will keep you informed as we learn more.

Thank you for your continued support of the University of North Dakota. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to send them to UND.inforequest@UND.edu.

Sincerely,

Andrew Armacost
President
University of North Dakota