Foreign graduates of U.S. colleges become agents of change abroad

In his article for the Sacramento Bee, CMDS fellow Markos Kounalakis writes about the growing number of foreign students at US colleges and how America and their home countries can benefit from this trend. 

College acceptance letters landed in mailboxes across the country these last few weeks. Proud families now need to figure out the finances of higher education while managing household teenage exuberance.

Americans entering the Class of 2019 will be joined by a record-breaking number of impressive and competitive foreign students. They bring cultural diversity and will yield future dividends as many foreign students later join elite business and political leadership ranks in their home countries.

Good American higher education for these future foreign leaders is not only good for them, it is great for America.

Money is clearly a part of the immediate benefit: Each class of foreign students brings more than $30 billion in tuition and spending, as reported in a recent Brookings Institution study. Rising tuition costs and increasing numbers of foreigners deliver even more money from abroad, with California being the primary beneficiary of this foreign cash.