30% of Harvard's undergrads are foreign. That good?

Leave it to an academic to conduct an analysis with zero data. Just a bunch of anectotal clap trap. You realize, I'm bringing the heat. Strap in.

I'm going to look at STEM graduates who arguably are a very scare resource and are at the tip of economic and technology innovation. Guess what percentage of undergrad foreign student stay in the United States after graduation. A whopping 20% (Nber.org). The other 80% take there accumulated knowledge somewhere else...to compete with our nation. Does that sound attractive? Meanwhile, the college arms race goes on with American student shut out of the very limited STEM slots available at our top schools. Wonderful.

Much better for student getting a masters degree? A little better, about half stay.

So why are guys like Mr. Crow trying to pitch for something that's clearly not in the strategic interest of the US? Because foreign pay more tuition. According to collegeusa.org the average foreign student pays approx 2-2.5 times the tuition of American students at public universities. How about at private universities? In theory, they pay norminally similar tuitions but Americans receive vastly greater academic aid, where foreign students pay full freight.

Foreign Students Help Make America Great

Trump has recognized this repeatedly, but some of his policies risk hindering American innovation.

By Michael Crow, WSJ

June 20, 2025 2:12 pm ET

The competition for economic supremacy between the U.S. and China is compounded by the view that American trade policy is unbalanced. This has led to some confusion—and perhaps some forgetfulness—about the value of international students to U.S. dominance.

President Trump has often expressed support for international students, most recently saying that he has “always been in favor of students coming in from other countries.” His administration, however, is serving up policy that could restrict the entry of talented immigrants who would become catalysts for American innovation.

The administration’s actions this spring to terminate visas of international students for minor legal infractions such as traffic violations and its scrutiny of students’ social-media accounts have sent a message that foreign students aren’t wanted here.

International students have been coming to America to study since before the U.S. was established. Alexander Hamilton immigrated in 1772 seeking to learn. He was among the first of many international students who took advantage of their educational opportunities in America to bring democracy and market-based economies to the world. Hamilton served at the Battle of Yorktown, became a member of George Washington’s first cabinet, wrote 51 of the 85 articles in the Federalist Papers, and was a principal architect of what became the U.S.

America must acknowledge the economic contributions of international students (educational services were the seventh-largest U.S. service export in 2023, totaling $50.2 billion) as well as their use in extending American values across the globe.

After graduation, many top international students can extend their stays temporarily to work in their fields of study, boosting American companies. This opportunity comes through the Optional Practical Training program—which would end if Mr. Trump’s nominee for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, has his way. Such a move would threaten the ability to attract top international students and would jeopardize a talent pipeline for American business.

While some international students stay after graduation, others go home and bring American values with them. There are more than a million such students studying in the U.S., and graduates will have been exposed to our culture, our democracy and our economic models. At Arizona State University, our thousands of undergraduate international students from more than 150 countries are required to take courses on American institutions, economics, American history and other democracy-grounding subjects.

Joaquin Duato, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, and Ramon Laguarta, CEO of PepsiCo, were student immigrants—both graduates of ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management. Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Sergey Brin (a Google co-founder), Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO), and Indra Nooyi (a former CEO of PepsiCo) are among the thousands of U.S. CEOs and founders who were immigrants.

These talent acquisitions add to U.S. economic success and innovation. More than 50% of all U.S. startups with more than $1 billion in valuation have at least one immigrant founder, many of whom came in as students. The return for the U.S. is in the trillions of dollars.

An estimated 500,000 students from India have graduated from U.S. colleges since 2000, nearly 25,000 of whom are from ASU. In February I met with India’s education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, who aims to expand educational outcomes in his country. As India moves to a stronger relationship with the U.S. and a reduction of its historic Russian links, these college graduates could be powerful for both the evolution of India and the enhancement of economic opportunity for the U.S.

At ASU, we currently have about 18,000 international student visas (on campus and in the OPT program) for whom we are responsible. These international students have contributed mightily to Phoenix becoming the epicenter for a growing domestic semiconductor industry. For Arizona, this has resulted in more than $160 billion in foreign direct investment from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and a microelectronics incubator being built this year on campus with manufacturing company Applied Materials.

We don’t do this at the expense of American students. No American student loses his seat to an international student—ASU admits every qualified student who applies.

The success of American industry depends on human capital as well as technology. The best students from around the world will be needed to help America’s semiconductor resurgence, its race to innovate through artificial intelligence and to pursue such things as the Golden Dome missile shield Mr. Trump envisions.

As Hamilton’s legacy reminds us, students have come to America since the earliest days of our republic. Guided by self-interest, this remains the path forward.

Mr. Crow is president of Arizona State University.