The White House has targeted students and cut off funding from major American research universities. Some critics are wary it could lead China to beat the U.S. to more scientific discoveries.
Trump says he will revoke tax-exempt status for Harvard University
The Trump administration has threatened to freeze $2 billion in federal funding after not agreeing to a list of demands from the administration.
WASHINGTON – In 1957, a U.S. senator from Texas named Lyndon B. Johnson anxiously watched from his ranch as the Soviet Union became the first country to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth.
The angst from those days and the Eisenhower administration’s early setback in the space race helped push Johnson to sign the Higher Education Act of 1965 after he became president. The landmark law flooded the higher education system with federal money (and, eventually, lots of student loan debt) with the goal of training generations of new engineers.
Seven decades later, some politicians and college leaders are becoming increasingly anxious that another president might cause a different world power to bypass the United States.
They fear President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to restrict funding to American universities, while trying to influence their programming and campus cultures, could cause the country to fall behind in key areas of research, from rocket science to biomedicine, as China pulls ahead. Despite Trump’s public antagonizing of colleges, they’re hoping their concerns might resonate with a president who cares deeply about maintaining America’s competitive edge.
“China is already trying to seize the moment and recruit some of the brightest talent,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said at a recent congressional hearing. “The United States is the world leader in medical research, but creating that was not an accident and maintaining it is not inevitable.”
Since Trump regained the White House, his administration has revoked the visas of hundreds of international students. Federal agencies have refused to cover the costs of federally supported research projects. At prestigious universities like Harvard, research funding has been repeatedly frozen over concerns about antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education, said those actions will ultimately help colleges.
“American universities that are committed to their academic mission, protect students on campus, and follow all federal laws will have no problem accessing generous taxpayer support for their programs,” she said. “Ending the antisemitic violence, harassment, and disruptions that have convulsed elite institutions will strengthen the research enterprise by allowing faculty and graduate students to focus their attention on advancing science.”
College presidents have compared their stress since Jan. 20 to the panic they faced at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like congressional Democrats, they’re worried the United States could fall behind China’s research capabilities. A former president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology warned in Foreign Affairs magazine that China could fill the void of a looming “brain drain” of scientific talent from the United States.
“Through its recent initiatives to cut federal funds for university research, the Trump administration risks draining a crucial source of new ideas for industry and the military, even as the geopolitical threats it faces continue to grow,” L. Rafael Reif wrote on May 6.
Some Republicans who’ve been loath to disagree publicly with Trump in recent months seem to share those concerns. Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, wrote in a co-authored Washington Post editorial in March that more federal investment should be made in scientific research – not less.
“Just as China’s commitment to research and development has grown, the U.S. government’s has waned,” the article said. “Just as we did when the Soviet Union drew ahead in the space race, the U.S. must meet the moment by accelerating strategic investments in scientific research and development of future technologies.”
Echoes of the space race
Throughout the early 20th century, Washington politicians were conflicted about increasing federal support for higher education.
But after the launch of Sputnik, a “logjam broke,” said Josh Mitchell, the author of “The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe.”
“LBJ was able to convince Congress that we needed to finance higher education from a national security standpoint,” he said.
The Soviets’ ability to put the first human-made object into space had major implications for keeping the United States safe. It shocked millions of Americans and underlined the country’s need to educate more smart scientists who could build weapons and invent new technologies faster than their counterparts in rival countries.
In the ensuing decades, the federal government massively boosted funding for university research. At the same time, it propped up systems that encouraged students to take out loans to pay for college. As the cost of a degree soared, and a crisis over student debt came into view, politicians (and Republicans in particular) became more skeptical about letting federal dollars flow to universities.
As the Cold War faded, so did LBJ’s argument that colleges played a key role in keeping the United States competitive and safe.
The GOP, meanwhile, fractured over foreign policy issues. And it became increasingly frustrated over the perceived lack of conservative thinkers on campuses. The number of Democratic voters without college degrees started shrinking, as the coronavirus pandemic ushered in a broader sense of skepticism among conservatives about the value of scientific research.
In the last few years, a new lightning rod – campus unrest amid the Israel-Hamas war – prompted Republicans, in the name of curbing antisemitism, to ramp up federal oversight of colleges.
“Now, there’s this huge antagonism between the leaders in Washington and higher education,” Mitchell said.
Mass. governor: ‘China is on our campuses recruiting’
Maura Healey, the governor of Massachusetts, has risen as one of the most passionate voices to criticize Trump’s recent funding cuts to college research.
Healey – whose state is home to Harvard, a favorite punching bag for the president – was one of the first Democrats to portray Trump’s pressure campaign against universities as a threat to national security and the economy.
“Donald Trump’s misguided attacks on our universities and on research are benefiting China,” she said on MSNBC on April 23.
Massachusetts is among the top five states for international study, according to data from the Institute of International Education. Nearly a third of foreign students come from China, which is second only to India (a trend mirroring the larger makeup of international students in the United States).
The concept of students leaving to study elsewhere is no longer theoretical, Healey later said on CNN.
“China is on our campuses, recruiting our scientists,” she said. “That makes America less safe, less competitive, and it also has tremendous ripple effects for our economy.”
On April 16, the Department of Homeland Security threatened to impede Harvard’s ability to enroll students from abroad – an unprecedented move that would devastate the campus if the White House moved forward with it. Amid the uncertainty, the Ivy League school’s undergraduate college allowed international students the option of accepting admissions offers for next fall at Harvard and a second university in a different country.
Leo Gerdén, an international student at Harvard from Sweden, said the anxiety among his peers is palpable.
“A lot of international students are definitely thinking twice about going to the U.S.,” he said.
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.