IBL News | New York
The Trump administration’s threat to block Harvard University from enrolling international students highlighted the risk other universities face.
NYU, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, and Carnegie Mellon have even larger international student shares than Harvard.
This metric, which once reflected their financial strength and international prestige, now looks like a vulnerability.
For universities, a decline in international students could have serious financial consequences, disrupting classrooms, research, and the next generation of workers in the United States.
Currently, these are the schools with the most international students, according to a graphic released by The New York Times:
| School | Students | Pct. International |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois Tech | 6,571 | 51% |
| Carnegie Mellon | 14,517 | |
| Stevens Tech | 7,461 | |
| Northeastern | 29,738 | |
| New School | 8,725 | |
| Columbia | 28,756 | |
| Johns Hopkins | 16,830 | |
| N.Y.U. | 49,847 | |
| Clark | 3,830 | |
| Rochester | 10,109 | |
| Caltech | 2,463 | |
| Chicago | 16,499 | |
| Boston U. | 29,104 | |
| M.I.T. | 11,706 | |
| Harvard | 20,807 | |
| U.S.C. | 41,648 | |
| WashU | 14,282 | |
| Penn | 23,948 | |
| Brandeis | 4,873 | |
| Rice | 7,972 | |
| Cornell | 25,334 | |
| Duke | 16,557 | |
| Stanford | 17,212 | |
| Saint Louis | 12,904 | |
| Princeton | 8,849 | |
| Yale | 14,854 | |
| Northwestern | 19,451 | |
| Illinois | 47,118 | |
| Ga. Tech | 25,178 | |
| U.T. Dallas | 25,108 | |
| N.J.I.T. | 10,388 | |
| Mt. Holyoke | 2,206 | |
| Dartmouth | 6,678 | |
| Georgetown | 15,453 | |
| U.M.B.C. | 11,523 | |
| Brown | 10,832 | |
| Case Western | 11,143 | |
| Grinnell | 1,707 | |
| Emory | 13,565 | |
| U.C.S.D. | 40,716 | |
| Washington | 43,118 | |
| Bentley | 4,690 | |
| Fran. & Marshall | 1,902 | |
| Berkeley | 41,572 | |
| Denison | 2,391 | |
| G.W. | 18,049 | |
| Michigan | 48,167 | |
| U.C. Irvine | 35,511 | |
| Tufts | 11,953 | |
| U.C. Davis | 38,184 |
The share of international students studying at these colleges has been growing for the past two decades as rising incomes in countries like China and India have produced more families looking to educate their children in America.
In addition, public research universities have turned to international students, as they pay the full tuition price.
Higher education is a major American export. Over 1.1 million international students contributed about $43 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2023-24 academic year, most of it on tuition and housing, according to nonprofit NAFSA.
Experts say the higher tuition paid by international students helps subsidize lower costs for U.S. students.
