US colleges rely on foreign students to pay the bills, staff research labs

The number of international students is down only by 1 percent this year, reports the Institute of International Education, but the number of new enrollees fell by 17 percent. Fewer foreign students are applying for next year, with the largest drops in applicants from Asia and Africa.

The Trump administration policies include "restricting travel from 19 nations; pushing schools to limit the number of foreign students; temporarily pausing student visa screening interviews while the government revamped procedures to include tougher social media rules; and canceling visas for students accused of crimes, overstaying their visa or participating in pro-Palestinian protests," reports the Washington Post.

Yet, increasing visas for Chinese students makes sense, Trump said in a Nov. 10 Fox interview. Colleges might “go out of business” without international students, he said. “You don’t want to cut half of the people, half of the students from all over the world that are coming into our country — destroy our entire university and college system — I don’t want to do that.”

Foreign students make up about 6 percent of enrollment at U.S. colleges. Most are in graduate school. Thirty-one percent come from India and 22.6 percent from China.

International students typically pay full tuition, bringing in needed revenue for many colleges, writes Michael Burke in EdSource. They staff research labs, notes Julie Posselt, a USC education professor. “Especially in STEM fields, international students are really central to the research functions of universities,” she said.

Two-thirds of high-tech workers in Silicon Valley were born overseas, according to the 2025 Silicon Valley Index. Forty-five percent of Bay Area tech startups are founded by immigrants, many with U.S. graduate degrees, estimates the Bay Area Council.