The Trump administration is acting to keep international students from enrolling at Harvard. In addition, it is targeting all visa holders at the university, with the possibility that many must return to their home countries. So far, a federal judge has blocked the administration’s actions.
Keeping international students from enrolling at Harvard, or any university for that matter, is ill-conceived, and inadvertently creates a national security threat that will live on far beyond the current administration.
U.S. universities are a national treasure. Any ranking of the top worldwide institutions of higher education is filled with U.S. schools. Places like Harvard, MIT and Stanford consistently rank among the very best in the world. Many of our nation’s public schools, such as the University of Michigan, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, are also internationally recognized.
All such schools are magnets for the brightest minds and talent in the world, including domestic students. All students compete for a place in such schools, gaining not only a superb education but the chance to contribute to society and the nation’s economy for many decades in the future. The number of seats available in such schools exceeds domestic student demand, giving international students the opportunity to succeed in ways that their home countries may not provide. In 2023-2024, over 1.2 million international students were enrolled at U.S. universities and colleges, an all-time record, contributing $44 billion to the national economy and the U.S. service trade surplus.
The vice president has opined that that international students are preventing domestic students from enrolling, taking their place in classrooms. This is simply not true. The very best and brightest domestic students always have a place to enroll. The challenge that the nation faces is that the domestic demand for human capital talent in numerous fields far exceeds the domestic talent supply available. Without international students, the research and discovery infrastructure at many universities would grind to a stop. This in turn would create headwinds on economic growth for many years to come.
Creating barriers to enroll international students is a recipe for economic self-destruction. More than 40 percent of the international students who come to study in the U.S. remain in the nation after graduation, filling vital needs in healthcare, engineering and science. For example, many international medical graduates who do their residency training in the U.S. end up practicing in underserved (rural) areas where it is difficult to attract domestic physicians. Many international grads end up working in STEM fields, contributing technical expertise that is needed to support and advance our digital economy. And many start and/or grow businesses that create jobs and contribute to a growing economy.
Shahid Khan came to the U.S. from Pakistan to study engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He eventually bought the automotive manufacturing company Flex-N-Gate, which he grew into a multibillion-dollar enterprise with over 27,000 employees. If he had been kept out of the U.S. and not permitted to study here, the value that he has brought to the nation would never have accrued.
An American Council Study reported in 2023 that over 44 percent of the Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. The U.S. is a nation of immigrants. Note that the vice president’s wife, Usha Bala Chilukuri Vance, is the daughter of two Indian immigrants. The president’s wife, Melania Trump, immigrated to the U.S. in 1996.
Though the economic ramifications of keeping international students from enrolling in the U.S. are significant, the threat to our national security is even greater.
To illustrate this point, when young people from China apply to study in the U.S., typically they are among the brightest in China. When they are admitted to U.S. schools, they add to the human capital talent pool available domestically. Many remain in the U.S. and participate in the “American dream.” But those who return to their native country bring the American dream mindset home with them.
If no students from China ever come to study in the U.S., these bright, talented, young people add to China’s human capital talent. This gives China a competitive advantage, as China benefits from the talent pipeline that they retain. Over time, such talent will create economic value that will accrue in China, not the U.S.
As a global economic powerhouse and adversary, any advantage that China gains in human capital talent becomes a national security threat to the U.S. But by attracting and retaining such talent here, our nation is better positioned to stay ahead of China in the global economic warfare in which we are engaged.
Building bridges with other countries by enrolling their young people in our universities is a pathway to improve international relations. Education shared is one of the greatest contributions that our nation can give to world, facilitating greater prosperity, fostering greater stability and, ultimately, making life better for all.
Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., is a professor of computer science in the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He applies his expertise in data-driven risk-based decision-making to evaluate and inform public policy.