Time For Universities To Put Americans First

Universities are growing more competitive as the number of both American and foreign students applying for enrollment increases. Many American students are often unable to attend their preferred universities because of this competitiveness. With an increasing number of fields requiring higher education, our colleges should prioritize Americans first for enrollment.

The Institute of International Education (IIE) announced in November that there are more than 1.1 million foreign students in American colleges on visas. They now account for 6% of student enrollment in higher education. India had the highest number of students in American schools at approximately 332,000 students. China was in second place with 277,000.

While allowing foreign students to attend American universities is not necessarily bad, they should only be allowed to apply for enrollment once there are no more Americans seeking attendance.

Universities with the highest number of foreign students are New York University at 27,247, Northeastern University at 21,023, and Columbia University at 20,321.

The acceptance rate for New York University is just 7.7% with a total of 57,335 students. Foreign nationals are 48% of the university’s student body. This is enrollment where the university should have considered Americans first.

Northeastern University is not too different. The university has an acceptance rate of 6% with a total of 31,159 students. A majority of students enrolled in Northeastern are foreign nationals at 67%.

Columbia University is one of the most prestigious universities in the country and an Ivy League institution with an acceptance rate of only 4%. The school’s overall attendance is 34,782, which means that foreign students are 58% of enrollment.

The enrollment and admissions processes of America’s most prestigious and sought after universities are dominated by foreign nationals. When taking into consideration the low acceptance rate of each of these universities, this appears to be a concerted effort by leadership despite the Supreme Court banning affirmative action in 2023 for college admissions.

Restricting the number of American students from universities while allowing foreign nationals to attend from abroad hurts the United States in the long run. Students who graduate from more prestigious universities historically earn more throughout their careers compared to their counterparts who attend other universities.

The Economic Innovation Group published a report last year revealing only 41% of foreign students remain in the U.S. long term after graduating. Only 17% of foreign nationals who receive their bachelor’s degree stay in the country. A majority of these students travel back home and use their newly acquired skills to help other nations compete against our economy.

Another growing concern in the past two decades is that other nations are sending students to American universities to act as spies. This is especially true for students from China. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged numerous Chinese students in American universities of espionage over the years.

The issue is bipartisan with both Democrats and Republicans bringing attention to the problem. Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia previously claimed that the Chinese Communist Party has “enormous power over its citizens.” He said that “we have seen the Chinese government use their power over their citizens to, in some cases, encourage those citizens to commit acts of scientific or industrial espionage.”

If foreign students are using their enrollment in American universities to provide intelligence and confidential information back to their governments, then they are acting as a national security threat to the U.S. That is unacceptable when they are in universities that denied American students that same spot in their enrollment.

American students are just as deserving to attend our universities as foreign nationals and would use the opportunity in ways that would actually benefit the U.S. While there is certainly nothing wrong with foreign nationals wanting to use education as a steppingstone to build a better life, our own citizens should receive those opportunities before any others.

America’s students should always come first and foremost.

Casey Ryan is a writer and investigative reporter in education issues.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.