The contribution of 1.1 million international students last year supported more than 378,000 jobs, according to NAFSA, the Association of International Educators, a nonpartisan nonprofit.
“Students don’t just spend money paying tuition fees,” said Nicholas Barr, a professor at the London School of Economics, in an interview with the Washington Post. “They pay rent, they go to restaurants, they travel.”
States with many universities saw significant economic benefits from international students.
In Texas, nearly 90,000 international students at over 250 colleges and universities contributed $2.5 billion to the local economy, per NAFSA.
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Students are seen on the campus of Columbia University on April 14, 2025, in New York City. Photo by AFP |
In Massachusetts, 82,000 international students added an estimated $3.9 billion, while California, hosting the most international students, saw nearly 141,000 contribute $6.4 billion.
Barr noted that the economic activity of international students creates jobs, from additional staff at local businesses like bars and shops to extra university personnel needed to manage increased student numbers.
As the Trump administration halts new student visas to push for changes at elite U.S. universities, economists caution that the loss of international students would affect not only the institutions reliant on their tuition but also local and state economies.
A visa pause could significantly affect “everything from real estate to restaurants to pretty much any business you can imagine that gears toward consumers,” said Constantine Yannelis, an economics professor at the University of Cambridge in Britain.
“Local real estate markets are relying on renting to students. If there is a significant drop in the number of students, it will have a huge effect on the real estate market,” Yannelis said. “Many local businesses, movie theaters, bars — there will be a drop in demand.”
Yannelis explained that universities cannot easily offset the loss of international students by enrolling more domestic students, as international students typically pay higher tuition than American students. He suggested universities might need to reduce course offerings or financial aid.
The long-term impacts of fewer international students are harder to quantify, Yannelis said.
“I am worried about the long-term consequences. A huge portion of American entrepreneurs are international, and many of them started their careers as students in the U.S.”
While the visa pause is temporary as the State Department considers stricter social media screening for applicants, and a federal judge has temporarily blocked a ban on Harvard University enrolling international students, Yannelis warned that “damage is already done.”
He added, “Even if all of these policies are reversed next week, we’d still have this cloud lingering over us because we’ve created an uncertainty around the U.S. being a top place for worthy talent.”
Barr, who studied as a Fulbright scholar at the University of California at Berkeley, reflected on his own experience as an international student. “I don’t think I would apply now because of the uncertainty,” he said, expressing sadness for both universities and prospective students who may miss out on similar opportunities.
“America is shooting itself in the foot big time,” Barr said.
International reputation
Educators fear that the global reputation of the U.S. as a desirable destination for higher education will be ruined by new visa policies.
“They just want to learn and they come here because they want to learn from us,” said Tim Gibson, president of the Virginia Conference of the American Association of University Professors, as reported by Virginia Mercury.
“They want to learn at American universities because American universities have a stellar reputation around the world for academic freedom, for having resources to support excellent undergraduate and graduate instruction, and for having the kind of freedom of an openness to explore the questions you want to explore and to make the contributions you want to make.”
The new policies raised concerns for many students, particularly graduate students, as they frequently bring their families, who enroll in local daycares and schools.
“Now they are threatened with deportation for no reason other than paranoia, racism, and xenophobia,” Gibson said. “Even just making a threat has irreparably harmed the international reputation of our universities and colleges.”
Another major contribution of international students is the advancement of scientific and technological progress in the U.S.
At American universities, foreign nationals comprised 82% of full-time graduate students in petroleum engineering, 74% in electrical engineering, and 72% in computer and information sciences, according to a 2021 study by the nonpartisan think tank National Foundation for American Policy.
International students are a crucial pool of skilled professionals, researchers, and innovators for U.S. employers. Far from being just consumers of education, they actively contribute to creating the intellectual property that drives America’s technological leadership, The Economic Times reported.
