Confucius Institutes
Reported U.S. institute counts
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Reports counted different kinds of hosts. The campus-only figures are shown separately below; a paused institute is not silently treated as operating.
College and university campuses only
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All reported values & definitions
| Reference | Reported count | What is counted | Unit | Source | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-12 | 96 | campus stock | institutes | U.S. Government Accountability Office | Confucius Institutes at U.S. colleges and universities |
| 2022-12 | About 7 | campus stock | institutes | Congressional Research Service | CRS reports the National Academies' college/university count, approximately seven. |
| 2023-07 | Fewer than 5 | campus stock | institutes | U.S. Government Accountability Office | Operating Confucius Institutes at U.S. colleges and universities |
| 2026-10-24 | 10 | directory listings | listed institutes | Chinese International Education Foundation | Directory entries only, not a verified current operating count. |
| 2006 | 11 | reported stock | institutes | National Association of Scholars | Retrospective source count; no month/day or continuous annual series is inferred. |
| 2007 | 31 | reported stock | institutes | National Association of Scholars | Retrospective source count; no month/day or continuous annual series is inferred. |
| 2014-09-29 | 100 | reported stock | institutes | China Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Official statement; source counting definitions not independently harmonized. |
| 2015 | 109 | reported stock | institutes | National Association of Scholars | Retrospective source count; no month/day or continuous annual series is inferred. |
| 2017 | 103 | reported stock | institutes | National Association of Scholars | Report-period snapshot from the April 2017 report, amended June 2017; no exact measurement month or end-of-year census is inferred. |
| 2021-11-18 | 30 | reported stock | institutes | USC US-China Institute | Some included programs had announced future closures. |
| 2022-04 | 18 | reported stock | institutes | Congressional Research Service | Includes four announced closures, one institute under review and four non-college hosts. CRS attributes the count to NAS. |
| 2023-06-22 | 10 | reported stock | institutes | National Association of Scholars | Includes non-university hosts and one paused program. Listed, not ten independently verified operating institutes. |
| 2022-06 | 5 | documented transfers | institutions | National Association of Scholars | Counts are source-coded institutions and may overlap; not an active-program census. |
Successor & rebranded programs
Institutions identified by NAS | not a census of programs open now
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NAS reported 28 institutions with replacement programs in June 2022 and at least 28 in June 2023. These are cumulative documented cases, not a count still operating now. Twelve proposed replacements and 58 retained partnerships in the 2022 report are different, overlapping categories.
All reported values & definitions
| Reference | Reported count | What is counted | Unit | Source | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-06 | 58 | retained partnerships | institutions | National Association of Scholars | Counts are source-coded institutions and may overlap; not an active-program census. |
| 2022-06 | 28 | documented replacements | institutions | National Association of Scholars | Counts are source-coded institutions and may overlap; not an active-program census. |
| 2023-06-22 | At least 28 | documented replacements | institutions | National Association of Scholars | U.S. institutions reported by NAS to have replaced their institute with a similar program; not a current operating-program census |
| 2022-06 | 12 | proposed replacements | institutions | National Association of Scholars | Counts are source-coded institutions and may overlap; not an active-program census. |
Explore the operator’s directory
U.S. directory retrieved Oct 24, 2026. Every returned entry is included below and in the download. Listing is not proof that a program remains open. The source includes a university-named classroom entry; these seven names cannot be read as a K-12 school census.
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Definitions & sources
Snapshots retain their original reference dates, including year-only and month-only observations. A report upload, webpage modification or retrieval in a later year does not make an old count current. No annual observations or national operating totals are inferred from partial inventories.
Successor counts retain NAS attribution and its broader definition of replacement. A proposal, a continuing partner relationship and a host transfer are not automatically completed rebrands. The supporting workbook has 29 R-coded rows, including prospective or ambiguous descriptions; these flags are retained, not substituted for a current operating total. Schools and districts are not interchangeable counting units.
GAO selected facts use an explicitly identified, versioned transcription; its checksum is not a checksum of the publisher PDF. Other numerical inputs retain publisher-response checksums. Only factual aggregates and selected factual record fields are redistributed, not report text or artwork.
- Chinese International Education Foundation (Oct 24, 2026). Public global-network directory, U.S. filter, complete returned record set
- Congressional Research Service (2022-05-20). IF11180, version 11, Confucius Institutes in the United States
- Congressional Research Service (2023-05-02). IF11180, version 13, count attributed to the National Academies
- U.S. Government Accountability Office (2019-02-13). GAO-19-278, Highlights, Why GAO Did This Study; public release February 27, 2019
- U.S. Government Accountability Office (2023-10-30). GAO-24-105981, printed page 1 (PDF page 5), specifies July 2023
- China Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2014-09-29). Spokesperson press conference, U.S. Confucius Institute question
- National Association of Scholars (2017-04). Outsourced to China, April 2017, amended June 2017; Summary
- National Association of Scholars (2022-06). After Confucius Institutes, Executive Summary and printed page 30
- National Association of Scholars (2024-07-16). China and Our Children, Executive Summary and classroom inventory discussion
- National Association of Scholars (2023-06-22). Linked closed-institute workbook; original R/M/T classifications
- National Association of Scholars (2023-06-22). Linked ten-entry institute roster, including one paused program
- National Association of Scholars (2023-06-22). Explicit Updated June 22, 2023 header and summary of post-closure replacements
- U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (2019-02-27). China's Impact on the U.S. Education System, Executive Summary
- USC US-China Institute (2021-11-18). Confucius Institutes in the United States, dated article and accompanying map