Foreign recruitment of American students and researchers is intensifying

The US, along with the UK, has always been a preferred destination for top international students. Now, it might equally be defined as an important source of degree-seeking students for universities in Canada, Europe, and Asia.

The “push” factors driving American interest in study abroad

Nearly 300,000 American students went abroad for exchanges and degrees in 2023/24, according to IIE Open Doors data, a +6% y-o-y increase. There isn’t yet more recent public data, but there are signals that many American students are applying to foreign universities due to the Trump administration’s historic defunding of research initiatives and battles with elite higher education institutions. Nature magazine summarised the cuts in January 2026: “More than 7,800 research grants terminated or frozen. Some 25,000 scientists and personnel gone from agencies that oversee research. Proposed budget cuts of 35% – amounting to US$32 billion.”

Even before the cuts, American student demand for study abroad reached an all-time high. For example, Studyportals recorded nearly five times as many Americans searching for study abroad opportunities just after President Trump won the 2024 election as before it. Searches for Australia rose 467%, and they were even higher for Canada (+826%) and Ireland (+1299%) according to Studyportals CEO Edwin van Rest. The surge has since ebbed, but American search traffic is still considerably higher than before the election.

The expense of American higher education is another factor. The number of highly ranked universities outside of the US is growing, and Asia is especially notable in this respect. There are now many options for Americans who want a world-class education overseas – at much lower price point than at home. An article on AdmittanceEducation.com included this illustrative anecdote:

“One family compared their daughter’s education at NC State to their son’s degree in Prague. Their takeaway? A $29,000 savings per year by choosing Europe. That’s not a typo. And their son still got a quality education, just without the $1,296-per-semester mandatory fees, the overpriced health insurance, and the meal plans tied to subpar dorms. In Prague, he paid a single €192 admin fee per semester—and nothing out-of-pocket for surgery, thanks to affordable health coverage.”

Data shows the shift

Recruitment agencies are noticing the uptick in American demand for study abroad. In September 2025, CBS News interviewed James Edge, owner of Beyond the States, a consultancy that helps American students to study in other countries. Mr Edge said: "The shift is striking both in volume and in the kinds of families reaching out. From November 2024 through July 2025, [our] website visits went from 600,990 to 1,534,929 and strategy calls went from 2,215 to 29,373.”

The list of countries and institutions experiencing more demand from the US is long. Here are just a few examples:

• In 2024, American enrolments in UK universities rose to 23,500 – up from 17,000 in 2019. And in 2025, UCAS reported a +14% rise in American applications for study in the UK, the highest number ever.
  
• In 2025, the US was one of only three source markets in the top 25 that grew for Australia, with enrolments increasing by 7%. This was the second-highest growth after Bangladesh.
  
• American applications to universities in the Netherlands have risen by almost 50% in the past five years.
  
• In Spain, IE University, known for its graduate programmes in business, has seen American enrolments nearly double over four years.
  
• Canada’s University of British Columbia (UBC) received +27% more graduate applications from Americans from January to March 2025 than in all of 2024. The University of Toronto and University of Waterloo also recorded spikes in interest.

Many governments stepping up recruitment of American students and researchers

It didn’t take long for European and Asian governments to capitalise on the Trump administration’s hostile rhetoric and actions toward elite US universities. In Spain, Norway, and France, governments have positioned their countries as a “refuge” for the world’s top students, researchers and scientists – and have rolled out substantial investments to recruit US talent as part of their strategy.

Over the past year:

Spain created the “EduBridge” initiative aimed at encouraging students in the US to transfer to Spanish universities.

Norway invested US$9.6 million to recruit researchers and has attracted American academics at US institutions including Boston College, Colorado State University, Columbia, NASA, Stanford, and the National Laboratories network. The first set of researchers have been hired the University of Oslo and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and each receives over US$700,000 to pursue their research.

France rolled out the Lafayette Fellowship, which funds Americans to complete master’s degrees in STEM, humanities, social sciences, and the arts at top French universities. Meanwhile, France’s Aix-Marseille University created a “Safe Place for Science” programme that offered to fund about 20 American researchers for three years. It received 298 applications in one month from researchers at institutions including Johns Hopkins University, NASA, Columbia, Yale, and Stanford.

The EU launched a two-year €500 million (nearly US$600 million) package to attract American experts to relocate to Europe.

Germany launched the Global Minds Initiative with about €600 million (over US$700,000) to support international researchers to come for both short-term and long-term stays. Since its inception in July 2025, it has funded 166 researchers from 25 countries, 16% of whom are American.

Hong Kong’s Education Bureau promptly contacted local universities to “call on them to take proactive action” when President Trump revoked Harvard University’s ability to host international students on 22 May 2025 (this action has since been paused as Harvard fights back in legal courts). The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology was the first to invite Harvard students to transfer their studies to it, setting up “unconditional offers, streamlined admission procedures, and academic support to students.” Several other Hong Kong universities followed suit.

Japan's Council for Science, Technology and Innovation – chaired by former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in June 2025 – instructed officials to help institutions recruit researchers seeking to leave the US. One of Japan's top universities, Tohoku University, has received more funding recently due to its research excellence, and as reported by University World News, it plans to "invest JPY30 billion (US$209 million) over the next five years to hire 500 researchers who want to leave the US ... The plan does not stipulate a salary cap."

Brain drain

The "brain drain" phenomenon has been a problem faced by many countries over the years. Usually the exodus of top minds and talents flows from poorer countries or countries with high unemployment, security issues, etc. to advanced economies. But as with seemingly everything else, the Trump administration has ushered in an unprecedented trend: brain drain is now happening from the US to other countries.