Mary Rooke Commentary and Analysis Writer
As part of the U.S.–China trade deal, President Donald Trump announced that American universities would be allowed to admit around 600,000 Chinese students annually. Conservatives have long been frustrated with the college admission process for American students, and making this official U.S. policy would be a disaster.
To give some context to the problem: approximately 280,000 Chinese students are currently attending U.S. colleges and universities nationwide. Trump plans to effectively double this number, creating even more competition for American students.
🚨 President Trump said on Monday that he will allow 600,000 students from China to study in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/QR9DU79unL
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 26, 2025
For decades, the prevailing thought has been to encourage American students to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs to enhance national competitiveness in a market that has increasingly dominated nearly every aspect of the economy. When SpaceX CEO Elon Musk promoted the idea of hiring H-1 B visa applicants over Americans late in 2024, he claimed that there weren’t enough U.S. citizens to draw from to make his company competitive. He claimed it was essential to hire U.S.-educated foreign-born applicants. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)
He didn’t specify that he needed Chinese applicants. However, when you examine the field of study distribution percentages for STEM fields among Chinese students alone, it effectively nullifies claims that American students will not be displaced by Trump’s policy to double their college admissions levels.
Of the approximately 280,000 Chinese students attending American universities, 51.3% or over 142,000 are studying in STEM field programs: Mathematics and Computer Science (23.3%), Engineering (17.1%), Physical and Life Sciences (7.9%), Health Professions (1.5%), and Agriculture (1.5%). Imagine what this will be when the number of admissions jumps to 600,000.
If we want highly qualified Americans not to have to compete with foreign applicants, then it stands to reason that the first step to making this happen would be to limit the number of Chinese STEM applicants U.S. colleges are allowed to admit. But there isn’t such a policy in place. And no one in the Trump administration has an answer for the American students left out of the decision-making process on these policies. In fact, Americans are told that they need these students (and increase the number we allow) to keep about 15% of American colleges in business. (RELATED: Chinese-Born Republican Candidate Warns Letting In Students From China ‘Not A Good Idea’)
Sec. Howard Lutnick tells @IngrahamAngle that, without Chinese students in American universities, 15% of schools would go under. pic.twitter.com/BrS1ZFr5qO
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 26, 2025
All of this without even touching on the issue that the students being granted access to the U.S. education market are coming from one of our largest technological rivals and culprits of corporate espionage and government spy rings: the People’s Republic of China, which is just a front for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
While you can’t claim that every Chinese student is coming to America to steal trade or government secrets, why take the chance?
In June, two Chinese nationals, one who worked at the University of Michigan and the other for the Chinese government, Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud. They were allegedly caught trying to smuggle in a potential agroterrorism weapon, called Fusarium graminearum, which is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Others have been sentenced to prison for stealing research in an attempt to ultimately give it to the Chinese government. (ROOKE: Liberals Love A Whistleblower Until They Call Out Their Fraud, Abuse)
Trump was asked about his decision to double the number of Chinese students admitted into U.S. colleges after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department was working to revoke visas for these students. The president stated that the federal government will be verifying the credentials of these students before they are allowed to study here, but added that he is “honored” to have Chinese students attend American colleges.
🚨 President Trump clarifies his policy on Chinese students studying in the United States
Daily Caller White House Correspondent @reaganreese_: “In May, Secretary Rubio said the State Department was working to ‘aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students.’ Yesterday you said… pic.twitter.com/HFIi0HWhQN
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 26, 2025
What is the upside for Americans? How are we as parents supposed to explain to our children that the already highly competitive STEM field just got that much harder to gain entry to? Don’t worry, son, I know you always dreamed of being an engineer, but it’s really more important to let the potential (but supposedly honorable) CCP spy take your spot at the college you’ve wanted to go to since you were little. None of this passes the smell test.
600,000 Chinese students in our country? Do we really need hundreds of thousands more spies here?
— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) August 26, 2025
Listen, not everyone should attend college. Most, in fact, would do a lot better for themselves if they started a business or joined a trade. However, we can’t tell every student to go into the trades. Americans need our best and brightest to get first access to these programs and good jobs after they graduate. After (and only after) American students are settled, the government can then freely admit as many foreign students as it wishes. (ROOKE: Mamdani Finally Found Something He Can’t Use Socialism To Steal)
This is more than a national security issue. It’s a vital part of the American Dream. Our kids are losing out. And no one has actually explained why this is a good thing for Americans.
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