Closing the Door to International Students Threatens America’s Competitiveness

September 9, 2025

CNSI Blog

With the fall semester already underway, international students have faced uncertainty and, for many, difficulty securing visas amid new restrictions and delays. As a result, future innovators are locked out, enrollments are dropping, and America’s global edge is increasingly at risk.

In 1993, a young man came from India to the United States on a student visa to study at Stanford University. He then went on to earn his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. By 2004, he had joined the team at Google, and by 2008, he helped launch the company’s internet browser, Google Chrome. Over thirty years after his arrival in the U.S., Sundar Pichai now serves as CEO for both Google and its parent company, Alphabet.

While Pichai’s story is impressive, success is not unusual for immigrants who begin their American journey as students. Most international students in the United States today are studying to receive a degree in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics).

For years, leaders from different sectors have identified the immigration of trained foreign professionals into the United States as necessary to keep America competitive in STEM fields. Policies that incentivize and make possible the immigration of these trained professionals are key to our continued success in these areas. Yet today, uncertainty and delays threaten American success and leadership. Students who were until recently poised to help America continue its advancements in STEM fields are now second-guessing their educational choices, and many are choosing to go elsewhere, leaving America behind.

Recently, Inside Higher Ed reported that more than 1,800 international students and recent graduates of U.S. institutions saw their legal status change without warning.

In June 2025, the current administration abruptly suspended student visa interviews. And just last week, the White House announced that it was suspending visas for international students who intended to matriculate into Harvard University this fall. This unexpected and unprecedented decision has sent shockwaves across campuses and consulates around the world, leaving students to now question their long-dreamed-of future in America, beginning with where they chose to continue their education.

Foreign-born students studying, working, and living in American communities contributed nearly $44 billion to the U.S. economy in 2024. In November 2024, research from NAFSA: National Association of International Educators showed that for every three international students, one American job was created or supported. Losing even a fraction of these students would deal a devastating blow to our workforce and innovation pipeline.

All prospective international students undergo rigorous security vetting before receiving a visa––including multiple background checks, vetting including social media screening, in-depth interviews with Department of State consular officers, and interagency data reviews––to ensure national security remains paramount.

Leaders like Sundar Pichai offer a well-known narrative of immigrant success; however, there are thousands more like him who are studying and working in America–– or dreaming of such an opportunity. These individuals are driving breakthroughs in biotechnology, engineering, medicine, and more. By limiting their access to all America has to offer, our nation will fall behind in the global race for innovation.

To combat this risk, our elected officials must act decisively to safeguard America’s future. We cannot afford for America’s global messaging to be that we are closed for continued research and development, an effort that begins with welcoming the brightest minds from around the world to our colleges and universities and ensuring they can build their careers here. We urge this administration and other elected officials to embrace these students and view them as the innovators America needs for our present and future national success and dominance in the STEM fields.

To be sure, more must be done to increase the participation of U.S. born students in science and technology, which must be a priority, but in the meantime, our doors must be open to these talented aspiring professionals to help secure America’s edge in science and technology, or shut them out and watch our global leadership slip away.