President Donald Trump warned that restricting international students could bankrupt some U.S. universities, and said "good" students from China and other countries who "want to stay in America” could be offered green cards.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity during a state visit to China, Trump said it was "a very insulting thing to tell a country 'we don't want your people in our schools," which could push other countries to expand their own university systems to retain young talent.
"And we do another thing if they are good and they want to stay in America, we won't give them a green card and things like that," he added.
"If you want to see a university system die, take a half-a-million people out of it," Trump said. "The ones that won't be hurt are the top schools... but your lower schools, the ones that don't do quite as well, they'll be dying all over the place."
About 1.2 million international students studied in the U.S. last year, of which about 266,000 are Chinese, according to the Institute of International Education's (IIE) data.
"I frankly think it's good that people come from other countries and they learn our culture, and many of them want to stay here, I think it's good," Trump said in the interview which aired Thursday evening. "Not everybody agrees with me, and it doesn't sound like a very conservative position and I'm a conservative guy; I'm more of a common sense guy."
Trump's remarks appear to suggest a softening in approach compared with earlier administration policies that placed stricter limits on immigration processing as part of its wider goal of reducing the number of people coming to the U.S.
Last year, the federal government effectively blocked Harvard's ability to enroll international students and threatened to expand the crackdown to other colleges, after the university did not hand over records about foreign students, including any video or audio of their protest activity in the past five years. The government's move was later halted by a federal judge.
The Trump administration has tightened legal immigration enforcement, increasing scrutiny of green card applications and expanding efforts to detect fraud. Those measures have contributed to delays in some cases, particularly where applications were affected by travel-ban restrictions.
In response, a federal judge has ordered immigration authorities to resume processing certain green card applications that had been delayed under these policies, ruling that indefinite suspensions were unlawful in some circumstances. The decision affects applicants from countries previously subject to travel restrictions—a list which does not include China.
International students in the U.S. usually come on an F-1 visa for university study or a J-1 visa for exchange programs. These visas are temporary and only allow them to stay for the purpose of studying.
After graduation, some students may stay for a limited time through Optional Practical Training, which lets them work in their field for up to one year or up to three years for certain STEM degrees.
There is no automatic route from being a foreign student to getting a green card. Most commonly, hopefuls first get a job in the U.S, then move onto a work visa such as the H-1B visa, and later an employer may sponsor them for a green card. Other possible routes include marriage to a US citizen or special categories for highly skilled individuals.
International students contributed nearly $55 billion to the U.S. economy in 2024, according to the IIE, citing U.S. Department of Commerce data. That figure includes spending on tuition, housing, and day-to-day expenses, much of it funded by sources outside the U.S.
According to the College Board, international students at U.S. public four-year universities typically pay about $25,000 to $45,000 per year in tuition, while private universities often range from $35,000 to $65,000 or more annually. Community colleges generally cost about $8,000 to $15,000 per year.
Source: Newsweek