Elite U.S. Universities Show Dependency on International Students
The Trump administration’s threat to block Harvard University from enrolling international students highlighted the risk other American 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
44%
Stevens Tech
7,461
42%
Northeastern
29,738
40%
New School
8,725
40%
Columbia
28,756
40%
Johns Hopkins
16,830
39%
N.Y.U.
49,847
37%
Clark
3,830
34%
Rochester
10,109
33%
Caltech
2,463
32%
Chicago
16,499
31%
Boston U.
29,104
30%
M.I.T.
11,706
30%
Harvard
20,807
28%
U.S.C.
41,648
28%
WashU
14,282
28%
Penn
23,948
27%
Brandeis
4,873
27%
Rice
7,972
26%
Cornell
25,334
26%
Duke
16,557
25%
Stanford
17,212
24%
Saint Louis
12,904
24%
Princeton
8,849
24%
Yale
14,854
24%
Northwestern
19,451
24%
Illinois
47,118
23%
Ga. Tech
25,178
23%
U.T. Dallas
25,108
23%
N.J.I.T.
10,388
23%
Mt. Holyoke
2,206
22%
Dartmouth
6,678
21%
Georgetown
15,453
20%
U.M.B.C.
11,523
20%
Brown
10,832
19%
Case Western
11,143
19%
Grinnell
1,707
19%
Emory
13,565
18%
U.C.S.D.
40,716
18%
Washington
43,118
18%
Bentley
4,690
17%
Fran. & Marshall
1,902
17%
Berkeley
41,572
17%
Denison
2,391
17%
G.W.
18,049
17%
Michigan
48,167
17%
U.C. Irvine
35,511
16%
Tufts
11,953
16%
U.C. Davis
38,184
15%
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.
