“This term is going to be tariff-ic!” said Trump.
Photo by Jordan Whitlow
In the wake of enacting tariffs on goods ranging from aluminum to foreign movies, the Trump administration has now issued an executive order placing a tariff on international students. The tariff, effective immediately, will mandate a baseline 200% increase in tuition fees for international students studying in American universities, with further adjustments to account for differing university tuition rates. In an effort to “further combat the DEI agenda,” according to the official White House statement, students will bear full responsibility for paying the new rates, with inability or refusal to do so resulting in student “relocation” to federal imprisonment to complete the remainder of their education.
President Trump explained his decision on Truth Social, stating: “Immigrants are coming into our country to STEAL our education. They are taking all the good grades from our hardworking AMERICAN students. There are no A’s left for our students, ladies and gentlemen, none at all. We want AMERICAN students in our AMERICAN universities, folks.”
In response, several surrounding countries imposed retaliatory tariffs on American students studying abroad, leading to the immediate cancellation of many study abroad programs.
As of last week, the Trump administration has begun to revoke visas for international students unable to pay the new tuition fees. The University of California sent out a mass email to all students addressing the situation: “In light of the President’s recent executive action, we are writing to affirm that the University of California is fully committed to supporting all of you, even the international students. We value our students immensely, and we really hope everything just kind of works itself out in the end. If you or anyone you know has been affected by this change, reach out to our exceptional on-campus mental health resources.” Despite UC’s statement of support for international students, a whistleblower revealed that UC San Diego and three other UC campuses were already making plans to defund international student affinity organizations and allocate their resources to fraternity and sorority activities.
The tariff mandate and subsequent visa revocations instigated an outpour of condemnation from both students and university administrators, the latter of whom expressed primary concern over their now “critically endangered student population.” Experts already project that American universities will see a drastic decline in international student enrollment: shrinking from approximately 4% to just under 0.5% — a statistic Trump recently described as “what God intended for this great nation.”
In response students have organized cross-country walkout protests. “There can be no ‘business as usual’ in universities when they are disrupting our and our classmate’s education,” said one international student and key organizer of the protest, who wished to remain anonymous due to risks that her international student status now poses.
Edward U. Cayson, California Superintendent of Public Instruction, has been a vocal critic of this executive order and has since demanded that the federal government take “rational” steps towards improving the American education system. Cayson recently called on the Trump administration to fund a higher quality of education for disenfranchised students across the country, and to dedicate more generous grants and scholarships if “they really want to get more American students in American universities.”
Trump dismissed the request as “post-neo-modern DEI Marxist propaganda.”
