Since Donald Trump’s first mandate, he has shown his intolerance of immigrants. From sealing the border to suspending student visas, the president is making significant changes in the country, especially when talking about foreigners. What is left for us to ask is: What are the consequences of those decisions?
Context
At the end of May, US President Donald Trump’s administration ordered US embassies worldwide to stop scheduling appointments for student visas. Such a measure was due to their preparing an expansion on social media vetting of the applicants.
This comes at a time when Trump has been rough when it comes to many US universities. He sees some of America’s most prestigious universities as too left-wing. His administration sent a list of demands to many of these institutions, which included directions on how to govern, teach, and make hiring decisions.
One of the biggest universities in the world, Harvard, stood up to Trump, starting the Harvard-Trump war.
Not long after Harvard rejected the White House’s list, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion (R$12.3 bi) of federal funds to the institution. Along with that, Trump said that the university is a joke and teaches hate and stupidity, and that’s why it shouldn’t receive the funds.
In response, Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, saying that what he did was unlawful.
Now, Donald Trump has suspended the entry of foreign students seeking to study at Harvard University. His reasons were national security, and that having foreign students at the institution was detrimental to US interests.
Trump and his Vice President, JD Vance, have been speaking against higher education institutions for a while, so those actions aren’t really a surprise.
Consequences
With potential international students being prevented from applying for the US visa or simply turning away, considering the turn of events, the impact on the US higher education could be critical.
Financially, international students are more likely to pay full tuition, which can be considerably more than domestic students’ tuition. This money difference can be a significant revenue source for universities. In addition to that, international students also contribute to the US economy by supporting themselves while in the country.
According to NAFSA: Association of International Educators, during the 2023-2024 academic year, international students at colleges and universities contributed $43.8 billion to the US economy and supported more than 378.000 jobs.
Academically, in graduate programs, especially in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) fields, the number of international students often outweighs the number of domestic students. This can help ensure that these programs can continue to operate and offer a wide range of research opportunities.
As stated by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education, there were more than 1 million international students in the United States during the 2023-24 academic year. They accounted for 6% of the total higher education population in the country.
When talking about Harvard University, the consequences could be wild. Over 6,700 international students were enrolled at the institution last academic year, university data shows, making up 27% of its student body. By not having a portion of those students, the organization could collapse.
Besides affecting it academically, there is also a huge scientific loss. Harvard’s president, Alan M Garber, said that by freezing their funds, a lot of research could be doomed, such as critical disease research.
Harvard’s research area is of extreme importance worldwide. The institution develops vaccines and studies the dangers of trans fats to how climate change affects health.
As noted in AAU’s 2022 joint report with the Business Roundtable, “International students, scientists and engineers help drive cutting-edge research and development, fill job openings in critical STEM fields, advance national security and bolster the US economy by generating new domestic startups and businesses.”
With all that being said, are international students really a threat to the United States, or are they actually making the country stronger?
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The article above was edited by Isabelle Bignardi.
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