Nearly every industry relies on a core customer base to help subsidize all the other customers. For higher education, international students are those core customers.
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Nearly every industry relies on a core customer base to help subsidize all the other customers. These are the customers who buy more of the higher-margin products so a company can continue to offer lower-margin products to the masses.
In health care, for example, providers like hospitals rely on a mix of private-pay patients, those with private insurance, and those on government insurance. Hospitals with a higher mix of private pay and private insurance tend to be better off financially, as they are reimbursed for services at higher rates. Those with a higher mix of government insurance often struggle; this was a main reason Heywood Healthcare in 2023 had to file for bankruptcy, which it exited last year.
For higher education, international students are those core customers. College presidents and other industry officials will go on and on about how the cost of attending university is more affordable than ever, even as annual tuition rises to the stratosphere. They say this because most students don’t pay the full tuition rate; at Clark University in Worcester, 70% of first-year students receive need-based financial aid, with an average financial aid package of $44,951. The reason schools can offer this massive discount to most students is because some students pay the full tuition, which at Clark is $59,680 annually. And, by and large, the students paying near that full amount are those ineligible for federal or state aid: international students.
Worcester is blessed to have three universities where international students make up a significant portion of the student body: Clark with 35%, Worcester Polytechnic Institute with 15%, and UMass Chan Medical School with 8%. It’s no coincidence these schools lead innovations in the Central Mass. economy, with research being performed at places like WPI and UMass Chan spinning out startup companies and support industries. Unfortunately, this has made the schools vulnerable to the anti-immigrant fear campaign being run by the President Donald Trump Administration, which has seen more than 5,000 students have their visas revoked. This campaign hit home on April 10 when WPI and Clark informed their communities that 16 international students had their visas revoked.
Regardless of whether the 16 students end up being deported or having their visas restored, the damage is already done, as WBJ Staff Writer Mica Kanner-Mascolo shows in her “International loss” story. This campaign will have a cooling effect on international students’ desire to study in the U.S. for years to come, if not for generations. Higher education was already struggling with college enrollment falling among U.S. students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Even though international students make up a small portion of student bodies, their impact on the schools’ business model is profound.
It’s hard to imagine what higher education will look like in a few years, since Trump is also threatening other sources of their federal funding. Schools like Becker College in Worcester were already falling by the wayside before all of this hit. Once the dust settles and the political moment passes, it will be good to remember how important immigrants are to the fabric of our society and the value they bring to our institutions.
This editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial Board.
