As the Trump government is suspending the issuance of new visa visa visas in its efforts to impose changes in the country’s top universities, economists warn that the loss of international students will affect not only universities dependent on tuition and local tuition.

More than 1.1 million international students who studied in the United States last year contributed nearly $ 44 billion in the US economy during the school year 2023-2024, pAccording to the non -party Think Tank National Foundation for American Policy – from $ 10 million in Alaska to more than $ 6 billion in California – and supported more than 378,000 jobs.

“Students don’t just spend money by paying tuition,” Nicholas Barr, a professor at the London School of Economics, said in an interview. “They pay rent, go to restaurants, travel.”

The states with a high concentration of universities have benefited in particular from the economic impact of international students. The nearly 90,000 international students who studied in more than 250 colleges and universities in Texas In the last academic year contributed $ 2.5 billion In the local economy, according to Nafsa, the Union of International Teachers. The 82,000 international students who studied at Massachusetts contributed about $ 3.9 billion, While California, the state with most international students, had nearly 141,000 international students they contributed $ 6.4 billion.

International students’ financial demands are leading to job creation, Barr said, whether they are additional staff in local bars and stores or university itself, with additional staff required to handle the supply chain of attracting more students.

A pause on student visas could have a serious impact “on everything, from real estate to restaurants and almost any business you can imagine that is addressed to consumers,” said Constantine Yannelis, a professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge in Britain.

“Local real estate markets are based on renting students. If there is a significant reduction in the number of students, this will have a huge impact on the real estate market, “Yannelis said. “Many local businesses, cinemas, bar – there will be a decline in demand.”

The loss of these contributions is not something that universities can easily make up for more domestic students, Yannelis said, because international students tend to pay more than their American classmates, who can benefit from the tuition fees. He predicted that universities may need to reduce courses or financial assistance.

The long -term impact of the reduction of international students are not so easily measurable, Yannelis said.

“America is setting himself on foot,” Barr said.