Sponsors (7)
The bill increases transparency and strategic oversight of U.S. exchange programs to better compete with PRC efforts, but raises privacy risks, administrative costs, and the danger that funding decisions shift from educational merit toward geopolitical priorities.
Congress, the public, and nonprofits receive regular, comparable five-year data on major U.S. exchange programs and PRC-sponsored programs, improving oversight and enabling better policy and funding decisions.
Students and young leaders gain clearer funding, participation, and outcome data for exchange programs, enabling targeted program improvements and better-informed participation choices.
U.S. agencies get data to identify countries where PRC-sponsored exchanges are growing and to direct exchange funding toward programs with stronger demonstrated diplomatic impact, improving strategic program targeting.
Preparing and publishing detailed, disaggregated reports will increase administrative burden and costs for the State Department, and reporting requirements may divert funds from direct exchange activities, reducing resources available for participants.
Publishing granular participant data (locations, ages, cohorts) raises privacy and data-protection risks for participants and partner organizations.
Emphasizing comparisons with PRC programs risks politicizing exchange evaluation and could bias funding decisions toward perceived strategic targets rather than educational merit.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Secretary of State to report within 180 days and every 5 years on U.S. and PRC exchange programs, providing participation, funding, demographic, outcome metrics, and comparative analyses.
Introduced December 4, 2025 by Ami Bera · Last progress December 4, 2025
Requires the Secretary of State to produce an unclassified report (with an optional classified annex) on U.S. and People’s Republic of China (PRC) educational and cultural exchange programs. The first report must be submitted within 180 days of enactment and then every five years, listing PRC-sponsored program participation by country and providing detailed metrics for key U.S.-sponsored exchange programs and additional programs in later reports. The report must include funding levels, participant and cohort counts, origin countries, ages, percent-based outcome measures (such as return-to-country rates and career/education outcomes), and trend and impact analyses comparing U.S. and PRC influence. The requirement is intended to inform Congress about the strategic importance and results of exchange programs and to compare U.S. and PRC engagement overseas.