Here’s How Much International Students Contribute to the U.S. Economy
As the Trump administration pauses new student visas in its battle to force change at the nation’s elite universities, economists warn that the loss of international students would affect not just the schools that depend on their tuition but the aggregate spending in local and state economies, as well.
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- Econ Everyday
- Aggregate Demand and Supply
As the Trump administration pauses new student visas in its battle to force change at the nation’s elite universities, economists warn that the loss of international students would affect not just the schools that depend on their tuition but the aggregate spending in local and state economies, as well. The more than 1.1 million international students who studied in the United States last year contributed nearly $44 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2023-2024 school year, according to nonpartisan nonprofit NAFSA, the Association of International Educators — from $10 million in Alaska to more than $6 billion in California — and supported more than 378,000 jobs.
While international students make up roughly 6% of the higher education population, they play an outsized role in supporting schools’ teaching, research and budgets as they’re more likely to pay full tuition costs. But the Trump administration’s recent changes to immigration and education policy have led to widespread uncertainty at those schools, where administrators say they’re bracing for a larger crisis if fewer students from abroad opt to study in the United States. In an unprecedented move, the Department of Homeland Security in April threatened to remove Harvard University’s ability to enroll any foreign students – a tactic other colleges worry could be used on them, too. If that happened at Harvard, the consequences elsewhere would be devastating, said Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools.
Other nations who want to attract foreign students are of course seeing these recent events as an opportunity. In the first week of May, some of the European Union’s most high-profile leaders gathered to launch a new initiative called “Choose Europe for Science.” Speaking from the Sorbonne, France’s most prominent university, they announced a 500-million-euro investment meant to attract foreign researchers and college students to campuses across Europe. “The bottom line is students have choices of where to go, and if they choose to go to other nations that appear to be more welcoming, those nations’ gains will be the U.S.’s loss,” says Suzanne Ortega.
Discussion Questions:
- Discuss the similarities and difference between a reduction in US exports and the number of international students choosing to enroll in universities in the United States. According to the article, what are the current policy changes that impact both spending components.
- Discuss the connection between employment and the number of international students enrolled in the United States. What is the most likely consequence if the number of international students studying in the United States was to increase, and who could benefit from such a change.
