Make Foreign Student Exchange Great Again
In 2025, it’s reasonable to be skeptical that American colleges and universities are an effective venue for educating foreign students about American values and governance.
President Trump’s recent executive order on combating antisemitism directed federal agencies to increase oversight of foreign students on college campuses. The move is likely the first in a series of reforms to the student visa program and higher education. At a time of widespread distrust of American colleges and universities, the new administration and Congress should enact broader reforms to restore the original purpose of foreign exchange: promoting American ideals and values to people around the world.
In the twenty-first century, the primary benefit of foreign student and academic exchange programs for the United States and the higher education sector is economic. More than 1.1 million international students were studying in the United States during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Institute of International Education. These students comprise 6 percent of the higher education student population and contribute an estimated $50 billion to the U.S. economy.
In the last century, foreign students and academic exchange programs were created and managed with the express purpose of winning hearts and minds in the global ideological conflict with the Soviet Union. For example, The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 established an educational exchange service in part to promote “a better understanding of the United States in other countries and to increase mutual understanding.” Historian Yale Richmond, who served for decades as a foreign service officer, credited foreign exchange programs as a factor that drove internal change within the former Soviet Union. The more than 50,000 Soviet citizens who traveled to the United States through academic and cultural exchange programs were exposed to American ideas and “prepared the way for Gorbachev’s glasnost, perestroika, and the end of the Cold War,” Richmond argued.
Today, the ideological mission of academic exchange and the student visa program is unclear amid growing concerns about the leadership of American post-secondary institutions. In October, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce issued a 325-page report detailing a comprehensive investigation of antisemitism on college campuses. “Information obtained by the Committee reveals a stunning lack of accountability by university leaders for students engaging in antisemitic harassment, assault, trespass, and destruction of school property,” the report concluded.
Growing recognition of widespread antisemitism follows years of bipartisan concern that American higher education has been exploited by foreign adversaries, in particular the People’s Republic of China. For example, bipartisan Senate investigations have exposed how the PRC has exploited the openness of American higher education to promote Chinese propaganda and to compromise U.S. research enterprise. Last fall, a separate House report, “CCP on the Quad,” detailed extensive links between U.S. government-funded research and researchers at American colleges and universities working with researchers tied to the Chinese government.
Adding to these concerns is the lax track record of both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Education in managing student visa programs and enforcing laws to curb foreign influence on campus. In 2019, the Government Accountability Office warned that the student visa program faced well-known fraud risks, including that Immigration and Customs Enforcement struggles to review and recertify schools in a timely manner. A 2014 GAO review found that DHS was mismanaging the Optional Practical Training program, which allows foreign students to work in the United States temporarily and was expanded by the Bush and Obama administrations. Moreover, since the 1980s, many colleges and universities ignored federal laws requiring them to disclose payments from foreign sources. The Department of Education did little to enforce them.
The new administration will likely refocus government oversight on these programs and the enforcement of the law. In 2020, the Department of Homeland Security proposed a rule that would have shortened the time period that foreign students were allowed to stay. During President Trump’s first term, the Department of Education increased enforcement of financial transparency laws to expose foreign influence in academia.
Today, the Trump administration should also consider a bigger question. In the twenty-first century, how can the foreign student exchange and visitor program be reformed to once again promote American ideals?
In 2025, it’s reasonable to be skeptical that American colleges and universities are an effective venue for educating foreign students about American values and governance. According to the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, less than 20 percent of American colleges and universities require students to take a U.S. government or history course. Polling data reveals declining public confidence in colleges and universities, in part due to the perceived political agendas. Beyond enforcing federal laws and the new executive orders, the federal government has little power to change the culture and political leadership of American higher education.
However, the Trump administration and Congress should consider other ways to leverage the student visa program to promote broad awareness among foreigners about the United States.
One strategy would be to require foreign students who are applying for student visas to study in the United States first to pass a modified version of the U.S. citizenship exam. Specifically, student visa applicants could be required to pass the civics portion of the test, which requires a basic understanding of American history, the Constitution, and the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizens. The current process for obtaining a student visa involves obtaining proof of admission to an approved school, paying fees (totaling more than $500), and interviewing with a consular affairs officer. The State Department could require students to pass a condensed version of the citizenship test as part of the interview process. Expanding the application process to require students to demonstrate a basic understanding of American civics would be an extension of current vetting and would use the main leverage point that the U.S. government has in the student visa approval process.
To be clear, the Trump administration and Congress are right to consider broader reforms to the foreign student visa program to ensure that DHS addresses fraud risk and that the Department of Education enforces the law. However, these changes alone won’t restore the purpose of academic exchange as a mechanism to teach foreigners about the United States. Requiring the millions of foreign students from around the world who hope to study in the United States to learn the basics of American history, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights would be a good place to start.
Dan Lips is a senior fellow with the Foundation for American Innovation.
Image: Shutterstock.com.