The Impact of International Students on US Graduate Education

This paper examines whether international students affect domestic enrollment in graduate education, focusing on a unique boom and bust in international enrollment at US universities from 1995-2005. Increases in international students expand domestic enrollment. These expansions arise from cross-subsidization ― foreign tuition creates Research and Teaching positions (RA/TA) for domestic students. Decreases in international students during the bust have no effect, as universities decrease RA/TA positions held by international students to equalize the loss in tuition revenue. Effects are identified using instruments that interact universities’ historical foreign presence with supply shocks ― population growth in sending countries for the boom, and post- 9/11 declines in visa issuance during the bust.