US institutions double down on global ties amid policy volatility
Convening at the IFE conference 2026 at Tec de Monterrey, US colleges said their doors remained open to international students, despite the Trump administration’s ongoing anti-immigrant crackdown.
“Internationalisation is more difficult to execute [now], but in my 46 years in international education, I can’t think of a time when it has been more vital,” said University of Washington president Robert Jones.
“Student mobility has been at the absolute core of what has made higher education in the US what it is today,” he said. “Notwithstanding the nationalism and divisiveness in our society, institutions are not giving up on the commitment of attracting students from across the world.”
Following unprecedented attacks on US international students under Trump’s second term, the university of Washington saw a 5-7% decline in new international enrolments this fall – a figure Jones said was “significantly less” than he feared, and markedly better than the overall 17% drop recorded across institutions.
“There’s a lot of expertise globally. We can’t sit in our labs in America and continue to think the world is going to come to our door,” said Jones.
Elsewhere, University of Washington vice provost for global affairs Ahmad Ezzedine highlighted the demographic cliff facing US domestic enrolments, making it even more vital for institutions to maintain inbound flows of international talent.
We can’t sit in our labs in America and continue to think the world is going to come to our door
Robert Jones, University of Washington
“This year, the US will have the lowest number of high school graduates that we’ve had in 25 years. There aren’t enough students coming in to meet the demands of today’s industries.”
“We need international students to bring talent in, but students, particularly graduates, have options now, and they don’t need to come to the US,” said Ezzedine.
Across the conference, stakeholders emphasised the wide-ranging repercussions of Trump’s funding cuts, creating uncertainty in global research ecosystems and causing scientists to increasingly opt for shorter-term, adaptable projects.
At the same time, alternative destinations have galvanised to attract talent pivoting away from the US, with notable examples following the administration’s shock hiking of the H-1B visa fee to $100,000 for certain petitions.
“There are countries following very smart strategies to attract talent,” said Ezzedine, pointing to China’s K1 visa and Canada’s CA$1.7bn investment into research – strategies both launched in response to US policy.
“In the current geopolitical situation, our world sometimes feels upside down. Some of the things we used to be able to control now feel out of control,” said Ezzedine: “It’s also making the world look to alternative hubs for education – in East Asia and the Middle East, for example”.
Across the conference, delegates emphasised the growing trend of students and faculty pivoting to East Asian destinations, pointing to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), which announced an open invitation to Harvard University’s international students – who have become a central target of the Trump administration.
“People seem to think that the United States of America has been the best place for higher education… that may be true, but that will not continue to be true if we isolate ourselves,” said Michael Rao, president of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
Rao emphasised the importance of global interconnectedness and said he had faith in the “masses of increasingly intelligent human beings” who would continue to seek the value of getting together globally.
“Electronic technologies connect us better than ever… We have to watch the expenses and communicate the value of those outcomes so the public understands why they are investing in international education,” he advised US colleagues.
Meanwhile, Jones said the University of Washington was making efforts to expand international recruitment beyond its top sending nations, with a particular focus on South Africa, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil.
Despite barriers created by Trump’s travel ban blocking students from 39 nations and the Palestinian Authority from obtaining US visas, Jones vowed his institution was “not retreating” but thinking innovatively about reaching students in the global south.
He praised the litigation efforts of UW in association with the American Association of Universities (AAU), in their successful blocking of government attempts to slash the university’s F&A research funding by $200m – cuts that are currently “put on hold”, said Jones.
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