Published October 2, 2025
BY OLIVIA FORT
International education is being sidelined in the United States. The country that once saw global learning as a strategic asset now treats it as expendable. What’s happening to international students isn’t just about visas or putting “America first,” this is part of a retreat from the kind of globalization that once defined our strength as a nation.
Since returning to office in January 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump has withdrawn from global institutions such as the World Health Organization and the U.N. Human Rights Council. His administration has also pulled back from climate agreements and questioned military alliances.
Their message is clear: Global engagement is no longer central to national strength.
International students have long been part of that engagement. They bring talent, perspective and connection. Their presence in U.S. classrooms has long been a form of diplomacy, one that builds bridges across borders. When those students are pushed out and the institutions that welcome them are dismantled, America loses more than academic diversity. Over time, we lose global influence.
The Trump administration has proposed dismantling the Department of Education and cutting more than $880 million in federal funding. They have also frozen billions in research grants to elite universities such as Harvard, Columbia and Johns Hopkins, triggering layoffs, hiring freezes and program closures across those very campuses.
And as public universities lose government support, many turn to international students to fill the gap. “Passage to America,” a research paper published in 2024 by economists John Bound, Breno Braga, Gaurav Khanna and Sarah Turner, found that declines in government funding often leads to an increase in foreign student enrollment.
But now that enrollment is under threat. International students face heightened surveillance, including social media screening in the visa application process and threats of deportation due to political activism. These changes don’t just affect foreign students, they destabilize the institutions that rely on their enrollment. According to the Association of American Universities, these students often pay full tuition, which helps fund scholarships, sustain academic departments and contribute billions of dollars to the national economy,
On Aug. 28, Middlebury College, located in Vermont, announced it would phase out all residential graduate programs at its Monterey campus, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, by June 2027. Officially, Middlebury cited financial strain and declining enrollment.
The decision to close MIIS comes at a time that reflects a broader climate of federal hostility toward international education. That climate is shaped by the Trump administration’s policies and proposals.
When institutions like Middlebury pull back, and federal policies make it harder for international students to stay, we lose more than programs. We lose perspective. We lose connection. And we lose part of our strength that was once defined by America’s unifying role in the world.
