The U.S. system of higher education has for many years been the envy of the world. Millions of foreign students have traveled here to study in U.S. colleges and universities. Their presence has been a boon economically, educationally and in promoting our long-term national interests.

Unfortunately, President Donald Trump’s policies are threatening that jewel in America’s crown, turning legions of international students away from America’s colleges and universities. The cost is horrendous and has been largely ignored.

The Trump Administration has implemented a number of policies that are discouraging current and prospective international students:

ICE officials have seized and deported students legally in the country who have apparently done no wrong other than speaking out against Trump’s policies. Research grants to U.S. universities, especially essential for graduate students in engineering, medicine and the sciences, have been withdrawn or frozen. A report from Inside Higher Ed noted, “For today’s new international students, research and program funding is ‘the major draw,’ and the grant cuts have left international graduate students wondering if they’ll be able to afford their degrees after all.”

Across the country, student visas are being revoked for almost any reason that can justify expulsion, including simple traffic violations. The message is a clear “you are not welcome here.”

Adding to these direct assaults on foreign students, Trump’s attacks on our international allies, from irrational tariffs to refusals to support NATO to repeated threats of making Canada a 51st state, have made international students question whether America is where they wish to spend their tuition dollars and commit their academic careers.

Put simply, Trump’s policies are driving international students away from U.S. schools.

At the same time, perhaps less obviously, Trump policies mean that some of the best and brightest U.S. students, concerned with these attacks on higher education, are considering whether they might not be better served by receiving their education abroad. One graduate student recruiter for a major, non-U.S. university tells me that their applications, from both international and U.S. students, have soared because of Trump.

Should Americans care? Is there a significant long-term cost to our citizens, our communities, and our nation?

Sadly, the answer to both questions is a resounding “YES,” but there is little evidence that anyone in the Trump administration is even asking the questions.

First, there is an immediate economic cost if we lose international students. In 2023-2024, over 1.1 million foreign students attended U.S. colleges and universities. International students account for close to 7% of U.S. enrollment, but that figure underestimates their real impact. International students are far more likely than domestic students to pay full tuition. The direct economic value of those students is estimated at almost $44 billion annually, accounting for almost 400,000 jobs.

Beyond the immediate impact, the long-term economic consequences may be far greater. Many colleges and universities increasingly struggle with declining enrollments and rising costs; scores of U.S. higher education institutions are at risk, and many of those schools serve some of our most vulnerable students. Many depend upon the tuition from international students to stay afloat. If that critical revenue starts to dry up, the impact on struggling colleges, and the towns that depend upon them, may be immense.

Second, beyond the immediate economic cost, losing international students will seriously harm the education received by U.S. students. I have had the privilege of teaching at some of America’s top colleges, universities and law schools, and I have had international students in almost all of my classes.

Their contribution to the educational experience is immense. They bring different perspectives; they explain different legal systems and cultures; they encourage curiosity and ambition… The list could go on and on.

Part of the excellence of the U.S. higher educational system is owed to the vibrant and multinational student body that we attract. Discouraging international students will harm our system in untold ways.

Third, there is another long-term impact easy to forget: Many international students, often the best and the brightest from their countries, decide to stay in the United States after completing their education; we gain doctors, engineers, scientists, lawyers. Even those who return to their home country — often to become leaders in business, medicine, law and government — take with them an appreciation for America and Americans. A survey a little over a decade ago found that hundreds of world leaders had studied in the United States. The loss of these benefits is incalculable and long-term.

And what have we gained from these policies that discourage their attendance? While some see obvious, and frankly sad, political advantage in images and reports of students being deported, our educational system, and the nation, will be diminished.

One final thought: Beyond the enormous economic benefits from our international students, beyond the great value to our educational system, beyond the long-term benefit of world leaders educated in U.S. colleges and universities, it is wise to remember the centrality of education to the entire U.S. national system — politics, civic engagement, civic virtue, community service and so on. Thomas Jefferson put it best: “The advantages of well directed education, moral, political and economical, are truly above all estimate. Education generates habits of application, of order and love of virtue, and controls, by the force of habit, any innate obliquities in our moral organization.”

Jefferson understood that a top-quality system of education is essential for a functioning republic, “the incalculable advantage of training up able counsellors to administer the affairs of our country in all its departments, Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary, and to bear their proper share in the councils of our national government; nothing, more than education, advancing the prosperity, the power and the happiness of a nation.” It is significant that in launching the University of Virginia, he chose numerous faculty members from abroad, facing criticism for having done so, but Jefferson wanted America to have the top educational experience possible, regardless of the nationality of the faculty.

Academic, business and political leaders in the United States need to start talking publicly and clearly about the enormous value of our foreign student population and the danger of the various actions that are discouraging them from joining us for their educational and formative experiences.

John A. Ragosta (BlueSky: @johnaragosta) is the former interim director of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. He has taught history at the University of Virginia and other institutions. His most recent book is “For the People, For the Country: Patrick Henry’s Final Political Battle.”