Sunday, June 7, 2026 | 2 a.m.
It’s a simple truth that America has enjoyed an advantage for decades: When we attract global talent through our universities, we strengthen our economy, deepen our talent and innovation base, and build our global leadership. International students at America’s universities, colleges and community colleges are quiet drivers of innovation, international partnership and community investment.
But now these programs are under strain due to shifts in visa policy, concerns on geopolitics and other factors.
International student enrollment is declining in the United States, with deep economic and cultural impact. First-time enrollments by international students at America’s colleges and universities decreased by 17% in the 2024-2025 academic year, according to a report by the Institute of International Education. Of the 825 institutions surveyed for the report, 57% said their international enrollment was down.
• Economic impact: International education has long been one of America’s quiet strategic advantages. It doesn’t make headlines like trade deals or military alliances do, but for communities across the country, foreign students deliver measurable value.
In the 2024-2025 school year alone, international students contributed almost $44 billion to the U.S. economy and supported over 350,000 U.S. jobs.
These students are a bridge to the world — acting as ambassadors for American innovation when they return overseas and a gateway to U.S. innovation, investment and growth.
Some of the best and brightest remain in the United States after graduation at the request of U.S. businesses to fill critical roles in technology, engineering and healthcare.
These students have legal work pathways through programs like the H-1B for highly skilled workers, employment-based green cards or Optional Practical Training, which is a short-term bridge to a more permanent visa. Both the H-1B and green cards have limited slots and are reserved for the foreign students most worthy of the time and expense necessary for their employer to sponsor them.
In cities like Dallas, universities serve as economic engines and international students amplify that effect. The international enrollment declines in 2025 could cost Texas universities an estimated $133.2 million annually, one of the largest projected losses in the United States.
Companies increasingly rely on employees who can operate comfortably across cultures and markets. In an era marked by competition with rising powers, this talent makes students with international exposure more competitive, more agile and more hirable.
International students bring different perspectives into classrooms, challenge assumptions and prepare their peers to operate in a globalized world. Also, typically about 40% of international students in graduate school programs seek legal status to stay in the United States after graduating, contributing their talents to American firms, universities, hospitals and other employers, and they tend to stay where they graduated.
• Global influence: International education strengthens America’s global influence. Alumni of U.S. universities include heads of state, government ministers and business executives around the world, and many of them directly credit their time in the United States to how they see this country and the world. International education builds familiarity not only with American institutions, but with American values.
The world is changing at a dizzying pace, and other countries understand the strategic weight a healthy, engaged and open higher education sector offers. U.S. adversaries like Russia and China are actively competing to attract international students, especially from South America, Central America and Africa, recognizing the influence and long-term strategic benefits this brings.
Even U.S. allies and partners, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany, are actively recruiting. When the United States appears to shut the door on the world’s best and brightest, we not only cede immediate influence but also long-term relationships. Students who might have studied in Texas instead build connections in Beijing. And these networks matter — shaping trade flows, investment and commercial alignment.
• Maintaining standards: Of course, a strong international education system in the United States doesn’t mean abandoning national security or our own exceptional standards. The United States must guard against foreign malign influences seeking to exploit our educational system while modernizing and streamlining visa processes, providing clear pathways for graduates to contribute to the U.S. economy.
When people come to the United States to learn, they often stay to build. And when they return home, they carry a piece of America. That is a strong economic and national security advantage for our nation today and in the future.
Laura Collins is director of immigration policy and Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau is the Bradford M. Freeman managing director of global policy at the George W. Bush Institute. They wrote this for The Dallas Morning News.
