A Chinese government program at 83 U.S. colleges is part of an "ongoing effort … to influence American students’ perceptions of the communist country," according to a recent report by a conservative watchdog group.

The Young Envoys Scholarship is an international exchange initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2024 to bring 50,000 U.S. students to study or participate in cultural visits to China, according to the Defending Education report.

It is "run by the China Education Association for International Exchange, an organization guided by ‘Marxism-Leninism’ and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism," the report states.

Reagan Dugan, Director of Higher Education Initiatives at Defending Education, told The College Fix that the program is operating in American schools without students and families knowing its real agenda.

Dugan added that the program needs greater monitoring. "US oversight must apply the same diligence to American students traveling to China at the behest of the CCP that they do to foreign students studying in America," she said.

A policy expert also raised national security concerns.

Andrew Harding, the Heritage Foundation’s policy analyst for national security, told The College Fix that American students should avoid the program.

"While marketed as an educational exchange, it is best understood as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s broader strategy to shape foreign perceptions of China among students and, ultimately, future professionals," Harding said.

He added that "Beijing would not devote substantial resources to bringing thousands of Americans to China unless it expected a return in the form of improved perceptions."

Of the 83 American colleges hosting YES, 13—including UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Stanford—are in California. Six of the eight Ivy League schools participate, as do top engineering and performing arts schools such as MIT and Juilliard. Other highly selective institutions including Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, and the University of Virginia also take part.

A 2026 YES trip brought students from New York University, MIT, and Harvard University to the Zhi-Xing China: U.S.-China Youth Leaders Dialogue to discuss green energy, technology, and "social governance."

A 2024 YES trip through the University of Chicago had students directly engage with "United Front-linked or state propaganda bodies," Defending Education reported.

Students visited the Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, an organization House Republican Elise Stefanik later urged institutions to cut ties with over its ties to the. While there, students were asked to consider how the U.S. and China can "build mutual trust," according to a YES newsletter.

In addition, students and faculty from Indiana University "participated in a four-day exchange program at Xi’an Jiaotong University, which the Australian Strategic Policy Institute flagged for ties to ‘sanctioned, Russia-linked, and military/critical-technology-connected entities,’" the report states.

The People’s Republic of China used to spread its communist political agenda in colleges through the infamous Confucius Institutes program, but Confucius ended after the Federal government found it intentionally fostered pro-CCP perceptions in Americans, according to Defending Education.

Founded under the same goal of advancing the Chinese Communist Party’s global soft power campaign, YES, a short- or long-term intensive program in China, is the Asian nation’s latest version of college programming targeting American citizens.

YES’ website claims the program exists because international excursions are a "key pillar and powerful enabler to deepen and expand cross-cultural understanding among countries."

The Chinese website for CEAIE, which runs YES, openly states that it aims to "always adhere to the leadership of the Party and integrate the Party’s work into the entire process of the association’s operation and development," Defending Education claims.

What’s more, CEAIE is run by numerous Chinese government officials. The president of the organization is Liu Limin, the "former Vice Minister of Education of China," Defending Education reported.

The College Fix reached out to the YES program for more information about its intent via multiple emails, but never received a response.

The Fix also reached out to Indiana University and the University of Chicago to learn why the institutions encourage students to participate in the CCP-controlled program. Neither responded.

In response to these ties, the U.S. Department of War has ordered 30 American academic institutions to immediately conduct comprehensive research security audits of their academic, financial, and research collaborations with foreign entities of concern, The College Fix previously reported.

The academic institutions are not named, but a news release from the department states "organizations associated with rebranded Confucius Institutes" are among them.