Study: Trade war ‘risks unraveling’ universities’ ability to attract foreign students
UCSD s Price Center Photo courtesy of UC San Diego A UC San Diego investigation has exposed that a bargain war with other countries particularly China could torpedo one of the United States bulk fundamental exports higher training The researchers from the UCSD School of Global Procedures and Strategy estimate that the tariffs levied on Chinese imports during the first Trump administration led to a drop in students from China studying in the U S costing U S universities billion annually in revenue In a very real sense international students are reversing the contract deficit noted Gaurav Khanna an associate professor of economics and coauthor of the analysis America imports goods from China but exports teaching in return That has been a win for both economies and one that a bargain war risks unraveling The investigation scheduled to be published in the Review of Economics and Statistics focuses on China s entry into the World Business Organization an action which dramatically boosted Chinese exports to the U S and household incomes in certain Chinese cities The change made American college tuition suddenly affordable for numerous families Analyzing visa records deal material and city-level economics the researchers determined that Chinese cities with more exposure to WTO-related tariff reductions sent significantly more students to the U S compared to cities with less exposure A increase in bargain exposure generated more students per million city residents accounting for about of the surge in Chinese apprentice enrollment between and according to a UCSD announcement However tariff policies that are designed to slow China s manufacturing sectors will reverse this trend they revealed In training exports added billion to the U S business activity Increased visa restrictions are likely to hurt this agreement as well Policymakers often talk about soybeans oil and steel Khanna commented But mentoring contributes more to the U S economic activity than any of those It s an export we ignore at our own peril The billions likely to be lost in tuition doesn t include spending international students do while in the U S for instance on housing transportation and local services While the majority of Chinese students who came to the U S after China s entry into the WTO were coming for graduate-level STEM science hardware engineering and mathematics studies that has shifted over time Now more head to the United States for undergraduate degrees in business and social sciences and various pay full sticker price Khanna noted his previous research showing how nonresident tuition benefited U S universities that aree suffering declines in state funding Universities had to choose between increasing tuition levels and cutting expenditures such as decreasing academic offerings to in-state students or enrolling a greater proportion of students who pay out-of-state tuition he noted The University of California was one of these institutions relying on international aspirant tuition rather than sharply increasing the tuition of resident students Khanna noted up-to-date political decisions have created a sharp decline in the flow of international students Yearly progress of Chinese students in the U S averaged about between and but has since fallen to under per year There s often an assumption that pact and immigration are substitutes Khanna announced What we identified is that they can be powerful complements Pact helped create a middle class in China that saw U S tuition as both a pathway and a product America s edge has perpetually been its universities If we make it harder for international students to come here we re not just closing the door on students we re closing the door on one of our biggest business advantages
