The emirate has been accused of funding terrorism
Qatar has dumped billions into U.S. universities over the last four decades, The Free Press reported.
The Sunni Gulf State has made headlines after gifting President Donald Trump a splashy $400 million plane dubbed the “palace in the sky,” and has recently hosted him as part of his whirlwind Middle East tour.
The White House announced that Qatar agreed to invest $243.5 billion in U.S. businesses Thursday. Qatar has also served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas amid hostage and ceasefire negotiations since the terrorist group invaded the Jewish state on Oct. 7.
Qatar, a monarchy ruled by the Al-Thani family, has seen a rapid reversal of fortunes in its international standing in recent years. In 2017, the small Gulf state — home to just 2.65 million people — was the subject of an economic and travel blockade launched by Saudi Arabia and other Arab states who accused it of being too close to Iran and sponsoring terrorism. But today, Qatar enjoys warm relations with the United States and is a major player in world affairs.
The emirate is the biggest foreign funder of American universities, donating $4.7 billion between the years of 2000 and 2021, according to a 2022 National Association of Scholars Study, and has spent $6.3 billion on American colleges since the government began keeping records in 1986, The Free Press reported. Qatar even boasts an “Education City” that hosts branches of several elite American Universities.
A source close to the Qatar diplomats said the vast majority of the funding Qatar spends on U.S. universities is spent in their own country, with close to 90% of the funds going to managing the U.S. universities in Doha.
Northwestern University opened a journalism school in the wealthy gulf state in 2025, receiving over $600 million in funding from Qatar. Cornell’s Qatar medical school, established in 2001, received nearly $1.8 billion from the country, Carnegie Mellon’s Qatari extension received over $740 million from the oil-rich country, Texas A&M’s Engineering school in Qatar received nearly $700 million in funding, Virginia Common Wealth University in Qatar received $100 million and Georgetown University in Doha received over $760 million from the monarchy.
Georgetown University in Qatar awarded Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, mother of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, its “President’s Award” in April. Bint Nasser manages the Qatar Foundation which oversees education in the city. The Qatari royal praised Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar after he was assassinated by the IDF in Oct. 2024.
“The name Yahya means the one who lives. They thought him dead but he lives. Like his namesake, Yahya bin Zakariya, he will live on and they will be gone,” she posted on X.
Multiple Hamas leaders, worth a reported $11 billion, reside in luxury hotels in Qatar. The Gulf state has long maintained that they host terrorist officials at the request of the U.S., in order to better negotiate between them and Israel. Critics have alleged that Qatar’s deep-pocketed support of American universities has fueled the antisemitism crisis plaguing U.S. colleges.
Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani about the country’s large investments in American universities Thursday. Al-Thani dismissed accusations that his country is trying to “buy influence” and instead said that the expenditures were made to provide an “American quality” education for people in the Middle East.
Ali Al-Ansari, the Media Attaché at the Qatari Embassy in Washington, DC, told Fox News Digital that Qatar is “proud to partner” with top U.S. universities to provide opportunities for students.
“American universities at Education City operate with complete independence and autonomy. Donations to US universities are allocated to the operating costs of these branch campuses, including construction, maintenance, faculty salaries, and other expenses incurred in Qatar – not in the United States,” he said. “Qatar never interferes in the educational content or curriculum of any American school, college, or university.”
Al-Ansari continued, “Allegations that Qatar has any influence over US universities are categorically false and based on deliberate misinformation. For several months, we have been the target of a campaign by bad actors whose goal is to weaken Qatar’s partnership with the United States and undermine our role as a mediator working to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bring the remaining hostages home. These individuals and groups do not want peace. They distort facts and misrepresent the nature of our university partnerships to serve their own agenda.”
“Throughout the last 25 years… you will always see Qatar by the side of the U.S. in many areas, in many things,” Al-Thani said.
Former President Joe Biden designated Qatar a major non-NATO ally in 2022. The emirate is home to a U.S. air force base which Qatar pays to maintain. Trump announced that Qatar will invest $10 billion into the base as part of its recent economic deal with the U.S.
Trump has also praised the country calling the relationship between the U.S. and Qatar as being “a very loyal, great, beautiful friendship”
Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Texas A&M, Cornell and Virginia Commonwealth University did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
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Written by David Spector for Fox News ~ May 18, 2025