The Economic Impact of International Students in the US
Foreign Students: A Boost to Local Economies
The recent visa revocation for over 1,300 foreign college students by the Trump administration has raised concerns among the 1.1 million international students studying in the US. While the focus is often on immigration and civil rights, the economic impact of these students is often overlooked.
The interest from foreign students in pursuing graduate-level education in the US dropped sharply during the early days of the Trump administration. If these global scholars choose to stay home, it would be bad economic news for cities and towns across the US.
$44-billion Impact
Higher education is America’s 10th-largest export, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Last year, US colleges and universities attracted international students from 217 nations and territories, including one student from the island nation of Niue in the South Pacific. Their economic contributions added up to more than the value of US telecommunications, computer and information services exports combined.
On average, each international student brings about $29,000 to spend on tuition, pizza, and other expenses. This money translates into American jobs. For every four international students enrolled in a US college or university, a new job is created. In the 2023-’24 academic year, about 378,175 jobs were created.
Boon to Local Economies
In any of the 50 largest American cities, you’ll find at least one college or university with international students on campus. For these communities, global learners bring a most welcome financial aid package.
Take Boston, for example. Greater Boston hosts more than 50 colleges and universities, including Boston University. The city’s economic gains from the more than 63,000 international students attending these schools are huge: about $3 billion.
While prestigious private schools are a draw, state universities and colleges are the biggest pull for international students. Of the nation’s top schools enrolling these students last year, 29 were state colleges and universities, attracting over 251,300 students.
In the top three of those public institutions alone − Arizona State University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of California, Berkeley − international students contributed nearly $1.7 billion, supporting over 16,800 jobs. Expand that to the top 10 − the University of California system takes four of those spots − and the numbers pop up to $4.68 billion and 47,136 jobs.
Bringing the World to Mankato
International students aren’t just boosting the economies of major university towns. Consider Mankato, a small city of 45,000 about 80 miles from Minneapolis that hosts a Minnesota State University campus. In the 2023-24 academic year, about 1,716 international students called Mankato their home away from home.
Those students brought an infusion of $45.9 million into that community, supporting around 190 jobs. There are dozens of similar campuses in cities and towns like Mankato across the country. It adds up quickly.
- Private and public universities attract thousands of global scholars.
- Community colleges also attract international students, with 59,315 enrolled in 2024.
- These students generated about $2 billion and supported 8,472 jobs.
Texas leads the nation with the three community colleges with the largest international enrollment: Houston Community College, Lone Star College and Dallas College. Of the $256.7 million and 1,096 jobs international students brought into those institutions, Lone Star led the pack with $102.3 million and 438 jobs, nearly one job created for every two international students − double the national average.
American colleges enroll 2.3 million fewer domestic students than they did a decade ago. Colleges and universities are increasingly looking to international students to fill the gap. Moreover, universities tend to see international students as subsidising domestic students, particularly since international students are generally ineligible for need-blind admissions.
The vast majority of international students are funded by family or foreign sponsors. Few require student aid packages. In fact, less than 20% of all international students receive grant funding from a federal source, and most of that goes to postgraduates doing advanced research. If you look at undergraduate exchange students alone, just 0.1% receive any sort of public funding.
Whether they’re attending small-town community colleges or the Ivies in big cities, international students bring a high degree of economic impact with them.
Barnet Sherman is Professor, Multinational Finance and Trade, Boston University.
This article was first published on The Conversation.
