Majority support for international students in the US

A recent study by Pew Research Centre found that 79% of Americans agree that international students benefit US higher education, including 66% of Republicans and 93% of Democrats.  

“In this challenging political and regulatory environment, the lead finding that the vast majority of Americans support international students is one of the most hopeful stats we’ve seen in a while,” Clare Overmann, CEO of AIEA, told The PIE News. 

At the same time, wide differences emerged in the survey based on political leaning and age – particularly around support for restrictions based on students’ country of origin and their views on US foreign policy.  

Notably, just 16% of Democrats said they believed the government should be able to cancel the visas of international students who have criticised US foreign policy, compared to 70% of Republicans, producing an average of 42% of Americans. 

The findings come a time of heightened uncertainty around visa revocations following the US secretary of state vowing to revoke student visas of those deemed to be “celebrating” the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.  

Notwithstanding the disparities, Overmann said the findings represented “a significant starting point for dialogue, a timely affirmation that most of us can at least agree on something fundamental, opening an opportunity to share stories, dispel myths, and engage in the kind of productive debate that is largely missing in the current climate.” 

Despite international students increasingly being drawn into domestic politics under President Trump, the share of Americans who support enrolling international students is largely unchanged since 2021 when the researchers asked the same question.  

Beneath the broad vote of confidence, sizeable shares of respondents supported restrictions on certain countries of origin, with half of Americans favouring limits on Chinese students coming to the US. 

Over four in 10 Americans also supported limiting students from India (44%), Nigeria (42%) and South Korea (41%), and more than a third wanted to place restrictions on Canadian students.  

For all countries, Republicans were more supportive than Democrats of limiting international students, with 67% in favour of limiting Chinese students. 

This is a significant starting point for dialogue, a timely affirmation that most of us can at least agree on something fundamental

Clare Overmann, AEIA

The data showed Republicans under 50 were significantly more likely than those aged 50 and above to support having international students at US colleges – 76% versus 56% – while Democrats’ views showed little variation by age.  

To a lesser extent, educational attainment was seen to influence people’s views, with 87% of Americans who hold a degree favouring international students, compared to 76% of those without. This relatively small gap appeared within supporters of both political parties.  

The survey – fielding responses from a random sample of nearly 9,000 Americans – confirmed that the public perception of international student numbers looms much larger than the true figures. 

In 2023/24, international students made up approximately 6% of the total student population in the US, yet 43% of respondents indicated they thought the share was over 10%, while 45% were not sure.  

Only 12% of Americans said international students made up less than 10% of the overall student body.  

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