Foreign Entanglements in the Higher Education Compact
Saved in:
| Title: | Foreign Entanglements in the Higher Education Compact |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Jay P. Greene, American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Conservative Education Reform Network (CERN) |
| Source: | American Enterprise Institute. 2025. |
| Availability: | American Enterprise Institute. 1150 Seventeenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-862-5800; Fax: 202-862-7177; Web site: http://www.aei.org |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 5 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Descriptive |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | College Enrollment, Foreign Students, Undergraduate Students, Universities, Federal Government, Presidents, College Faculty, College Administration, Politics of Education, Educational Change, Government Role, Government School Relationship, Educational Finance, Enrollment Trends, Higher Education |
| Abstract: | The Trump administration's October 2025 Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education sparked an overdue conversation about the relationship between universities and the federal government. The administration identified issues that deserve to be addressed. But its approach provoked serious objections, even from sympathetic observers. That has created an opening for alternatives that are more workable and rooted in legislative authority. To that end, AEI's Conservative Education Reform Network commissioned contributions from several right-of-center higher education thinkers. Each tackles one of the compact's eight priorities, seeking to offer Congress, state lawmakers, and campus leaders a path forward. In this report, Jay P. Greene takes on foreign entanglements. The Trump administration's proposals to cap foreign student enrollment at 15 percent of undergraduates and improve transparency regarding foreign gifts, grants, and contracts are useful steps to redirect universities toward American interests, but they do not go nearly far enough. The most serious threats to aligning universities with US interests come from the over-enrollment of foreign graduate students and the growing number of foreign-born faculty and administrators, neither of which the Trump administration's proposal restricts. The Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education can easily be amended to include foreign graduate students in its enrollment cap and eliminate universities' exemptions to H-1B visa caps and fees. States can also adopt these policies to cover public universities under their jurisdiction. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED677988 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The Trump administration's October 2025 Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education sparked an overdue conversation about the relationship between universities and the federal government. The administration identified issues that deserve to be addressed. But its approach provoked serious objections, even from sympathetic observers. That has created an opening for alternatives that are more workable and rooted in legislative authority. To that end, AEI's Conservative Education Reform Network commissioned contributions from several right-of-center higher education thinkers. Each tackles one of the compact's eight priorities, seeking to offer Congress, state lawmakers, and campus leaders a path forward. In this report, Jay P. Greene takes on foreign entanglements. The Trump administration's proposals to cap foreign student enrollment at 15 percent of undergraduates and improve transparency regarding foreign gifts, grants, and contracts are useful steps to redirect universities toward American interests, but they do not go nearly far enough. The most serious threats to aligning universities with US interests come from the over-enrollment of foreign graduate students and the growing number of foreign-born faculty and administrators, neither of which the Trump administration's proposal restricts. The Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education can easily be amended to include foreign graduate students in its enrollment cap and eliminate universities' exemptions to H-1B visa caps and fees. States can also adopt these policies to cover public universities under their jurisdiction. |
|---|
