Picture this: you aced your tests and projects, even pulled a couple all-nighters, remained the perfect role model for all your peers, looked great on paper and led every major club or group on campus.

Yet, you didn’t get into your dream school.

One of the most significant decisions we make in our lives is college. It is what we use to achieve our desired careers, dreams and lifestyles. I mean, think about it, our quality of life depends on it. For instance, it can determine the quality of education we receive and in turn affect the job we get. College is the most valuable and critical decision that we face.

Unfortunately, as we forgo our childhood for rigorous classes and extensive nightly work, we are hit with another obstacle on our way to our dream schools: international students being given our spots. There is a dramatic increase in the acceptance rate of foreign students into the American university system.

Don’t get me wrong. Having some international students accepted into our university systems is amazing. After all, the sole objective of all school systems is to educate the students, no matter their nationality. However, giving them the priority and majority over U.S. students is something that is troubling.

Colorado State enrollment was up a record 23% from 2013. Also, 353 students joined reaching an all-time high of 1859 in 2014. The Vice Provost of International Affairs, Jim Cooney, said “International Student enrollment continues to increase dramatically at CSU.”  

The University of California at Berkeley, accepted 1,344 foreign students out of 15,373 in 2016. This may seem like a small demand, but look at it from another perspective: 1,344 foreign students filled spots that could have gone to U.S. students at one of the most renowned schools. In addition, in 1988, University of California at Los Angeles accepted 220 foreign students out of 1,289. Now here’s my point—here we are, almost 30 years later and UCLA has increased its rate dramatically, accepting 4,614 foreign students out of 17,385. I think that’s simply unfair!

What’s the reason for an increase in foreign student demand? It’s funding, of course.  

According to an article from The Wall Street Journal, “International students typically pay full tuition, boosting revenues for schools. They also spend heavily on housing and other goods. International students contributed more than $30 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2014-2015 academic year.” When we were going through the Great Recession of 2008, and states were cutting funding and reducing expenditures, another revenue source was needed to raise money for research and for paying for professors. This was one of the results.
State university systems are limited by how much they can raise tuition any given year. So, they did what any good capitalist would do: they found another revenue stream. The countries that have a major financial influence on colleges include China, India and South Korea.

Just consider how stressful junior and senior years of high school are. Our focus is on our grade point average, focusing on ACT and SAT scores, not to mention letters of recommendation and personal statements. Completing applications and filing forms is extremely stressful and nail-biting.

Why should our efforts be diminished with reduced acceptances of local students into universities because of foreign tuition revenue?

The solution is as simple as this: universities need to find additional funding opportunities so that local high school students aren’t limited.

Undoubtedly, despite foreign students taking a toll on our admission rates, they do enrich our college experience. We get exposure to different cultures, nationalities and populations. My issue is, universities shouldn’t give up seats that were previously reserved for U.S. students to foreign ones, just for money. After all, this is the land of opportunity.

American high school students deserve academic recognition for their hard work and efforts. Our universities need to give our tax-paying parents and their kids priority in admissions. Foreign student enrollment needs to be limited so that our future isn’t sacrificed.

At the end of the day, the potential spots that American students have are being reduced, and the future leaders of the United States are being compromised.