Targeting Chinese Students Threatens the Bottom Line at American Universities

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By Shen Lu, Liyan Qi and Ming Li

(The Wall Street Journal) — A Trump administration announcement Wednesday that it would “aggressively” begin revoking visas for Chinese students confronts universities across the U.S. with the prospect of a hit to their finances and talent pool.

The move comes on top of a push to bar Harvard University from enrolling international students as part of the president’s battle with the school. The Trump administration has also paused new student-visa interviews while it prepares new measures to vet applicants’ social-media accounts, according to a State Department cable.

American universities significantly increased their enrollment of Chinese students in the years following the 2008-09 financial crisis, when many suffered budget shortfalls. Typically, Chinese undergraduates pay full tuition, a critical source of revenue for universities.