海角大神

Universities around the world are seeking to offer refuge for students impacted by President Donald Trump鈥檚 crackdown on academic institutions, targeting top talent and a slice of the billions of dollars in academic revenue in the United States.

Osaka University, one of the top-ranked in Japan, is offering tuition fee waivers, research grants, and help with travel arrangements for students and researchers at U.S. institutions who want to transfer.

Japan鈥檚 Kyoto University and Tokyo University are also considering similar schemes, while Hong Kong has instructed its universities to attract top talent from the United States. China鈥檚 Xi鈥檃n Jiaotong University has appealed for students at Harvard, singled out in Mr. Trump鈥檚 crackdown, promising 鈥渟treamlined鈥� admissions and 鈥渃omprehensive鈥� support.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 administration has enacted massive funding cuts for academic research, curbed visas for foreign students 鈥� especially those from China 鈥� and plans to hike taxes on elite schools.

Mr. Trump alleges top U.S. universities are cradles of anti-American movements. In a dramatic escalation, his administration last week revoked Harvard鈥檚 ability to enroll foreign students, a move later blocked by a federal judge.

Masaru Ishii, dean of the graduate school of medicine at Osaka University, described the impact on U.S. universities as 鈥渁 loss for all of humanity.鈥�

Japan aims to ramp up its number of foreign students to 400,000 over the next decade, from around 337,000 currently.

Jessica Turner, CEO of Quacquarelli Symonds, a London-based analytics firm that ranks universities globally, said other leading universities around the world were trying to attract students unsure of going to the United States.

Germany, France, and Ireland are emerging as particularly attractive alternatives in Europe, she said, while in the Asia-Pacific, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and mainland China are rising in profile.

Switching schools

Chinese students have been particularly targeted in Mr. Trump鈥檚 crackdown, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday pledging to 鈥渁ggressively鈥� crack down on their visas.

More than 275,000 Chinese students are enrolled in hundreds of U.S. colleges, providing a major source of revenue for the schools and a crucial pipeline of talent for U.S. technology companies.

International students 鈥� 54% of them from India and China 鈥� contributed more than $50 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 crackdown comes at a critical period in the international student application process, as many young people prepare to travel to the U.S. in August to find accommodation and settle in before the term starts.

Dai, a Chinese student based in Chengdu, had planned to head to the U.S. to complete her master鈥檚 but is now seriously considering taking up an offer in Britain instead.

鈥淭he various policies [by the U.S. government] were a slap in my face,鈥� she said, requesting to be identified only by her surname for privacy reasons. 鈥淚鈥檓 thinking about my mental health and it鈥檚 possible that I indeed change schools.鈥�

Students from Britain and the European Union are also now more hesitant to apply to U.S. universities, said Tom Moon, deputy head of consultancy at Oxbridge Applications, which helps students in their university applications.

He said many international students currently enrolled at U.S. universities were now contacting the consultancy to discuss transfer options to Canada, the UK, and Europe.

According to a survey the consultancy ran earlier this week, 54% of its clients said they were now 鈥渓ess likely鈥� to enroll at an American university than they were at the start of the year.

There has been an uptick in applications to British universities from prospective students in the U.S., said Universities UK, an organization that promotes British institutions. It cautioned, however, that it was too early to say whether that translates into more students enrolling.

Reputational effects

Ella Ricketts, a first-year student at Harvard from Canada, said she receives a generous aid package paid for by the school鈥檚 donors and is concerned that she won鈥檛 be able to afford other options if forced to transfer.

鈥淎round the time I was applying to schools, the only university across the Atlantic I considered was Oxford.... However, I realized that I would not be able to afford the international tuition and there was no sufficient scholarship or financial aid available,鈥� she said.

If Harvard鈥檚 ability to enroll foreign students is revoked, she would most likely apply to the University of Toronto, she said.

Analytics firm QS said overall visits to its 鈥淪tudy in America鈥� online guide have declined by 17.6% in the past year 鈥� with interest from India alone down over 50%.

鈥淢easurable impacts on enrollment typically emerge within six to 18 months. Reputational effects, however, often linger far longer, particularly where visa uncertainty and shifting work rights play into perceptions of risk versus return,鈥� said QS鈥� Ms. Turner.

That reputational risk, and the ensuing brain drain, could be even more damaging for U.S. institutions than the immediate economic hit from students leaving.

鈥淚f America turns these brilliant and talented students away, they will find other places to work and study,鈥� said Caleb Thompson, a U.S. student at Harvard, who lives with eight international scholars.

This story was reported by Reuters.