While there is no shortage of examples of willful ignorance and outright lying in politics, the idea that blocking foreign students from attending US universities is anything other than disastrous to US students is positively enraging. The real curiousity here is whether the value of a US degree has yet dipped below the full tuition price tags that foreign students almost always pay. Beyond the billions in tuition received and tuition subsidies indirectly consumed, I couldn’t even begin to put a price on the cultural power accrued from being the global center for higher education for the last century. This administration’s capacity to find new and innovative ways to tear down US institutions is unrivaled and beyond even the grandest dreams of our most optimistic enemies.
Economist Writing Every Day 