The problem everyone in this thread is missing is that by fueling Chinese education at US tax payer cost, their educational institutions and research programs already rival the US. Competition is fine but paying your competitor to win is silly.
The premium paid by many foreign students is well above what the average American is paying. Price discrimination by US schools is designed to maximize what they can extract and they are very skilled at it.
It’s a complicated topic with plenty of ambiguity, but on net the US is economically better off with these students. You can argue about past funding for these institutions, but at worst the net subsidy is minuscule compared to what foreign investors of US companies are receiving.
You could point to research grants for graduate students, but these people are doing actual work at below market rates. It’s comparable to H1B’s except they are paid less and more of that money is funneled back into the US economy.
