How much international students matter to the economy

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

Many international students are rethinking their education in the United States as the federal government revokes visas, often over minor infractions. A shift away could carry a heavy economic toll, as international students contributed $44 billion to the U.S. economy last school year. So what happens when a generation of bright-eyed scholars decide to forgo school in the U.S. and take their dollars elsewhere?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:02.0	This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Darym Woods. And today I'm joined by business journalist
0:16.9	Talib Visram. Welcome. Thanks so much for having me. And today, you're here to talk about international students.
0:23.9	Right. As you know, since March, the Trump administration has been revoking visas from foreign students across the country, from the biggest state school systems to tiny community colleges.
0:34.2	They started targeting students with perceived links to pro-Palestinian activism.
0:39.4	It's since expanded to include some students with minor infractions with the law.
0:45.0	Some universities are advising students not to travel out of the country because of issues
0:50.0	some visa holders have had at the border.
0:52.6	All of this is leading to panic
0:54.3	among some foreign-born students
0:56.3	who are now searching for escape routes,
0:58.9	like Valentina Tardunio-Poleo.
1:02.1	She's from Venezuela
1:03.1	and is three years into a physics PhD at NYU.
1:07.3	But she's relocating to Oxford University this summer.
1:11.0	A PhD is a very long commitment.
1:13.1	So I had this idea in my head.
1:15.0	This is where I'm going to be for the next five, six, seven, who knows how many years.
1:19.0	I got a cat.
1:20.2	I was never planning on moving a cat to the UK.
1:22.8	She's choosing essentially to self-deport.
1:25.9	She feels it's best for her own safety given the current climate.
	...

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