It has become clear that the Trump “Golden Age of Science” has been significantly tarnished by the results of his immigration and economic policies. The hundreds of thousands of foreign students that used to be attracted to U.S. colleges and universities have lost their eagerness in the increasingly racist nature of Trump’s immigration policies, and due to the fact that much of the “cutting edge” research in interesting scientific fields is now occurring in China and other places—not in the U.S. During the important May-August visa-processing period last year, the State Department indicated that they processed 36% fewer F-1 Student visas than during the same period in 2024.
The latest figures published by Fortune magazine indicate that even the flow of U.S. students into U.S. colleges is dwindling. While a record 3.9 million U.S. students graduated from high school in 2025, that appears to have been a peak year. It is estimated that the number will have sunk to 3.4 million by 2041, a 13% drop. Fewer of these graduates are choosing to go to a four-year college or university, largely due to the rising costs of college in this “bubble economy.” A four-year college education presently costs around $100,000 a year. The share of high school graduates choosing some form of college has also fallen from 70% to 62%. Many are choosing a two-year vocational college as an alternative.
