ASU is home to more than 17,000 international students who strengthen the university community by sharing their global perspectives and enhancing academic competitiveness.
Do they take seats away from local students? Hardly. As President Crow shared recently with Marketplace and the Wall Street Journal, a large international student body helps keep college more affordable for Arizona students. International students pay a premium to study here, and their attendance directly supports financial aid for thousands of in-state learners.
And no American student loses their seat to an international student. ASU is a university that measures itself by whom we include — and we admit all who are qualified. American industry needs every one of them, and more.
The success of American industry depends not only on technology, but on human capital. The best students from around the world will be needed to help America’s semiconductor resurgence, its race to innovate through AI, and much more.
Consider:
- Educating international students helps the United States. Educational services are a vital part of the United States’ export economy with a value of more than $50 billion – nearly matching the combined value of exports of soybeans, corn and textile supplies.
- International students in Arizona spent an estimated $239 million on housing, goods and other services in fiscal year 2024. These purchases supported about 1,500 Arizona jobs and $212 million in gross state product (GSP).
- International students on campus and online paid $360 million in tuition payments to ASU in fiscal year 2024. This helped to finance 12% of ASU operating expenditures during the year.
- The total economic impact of ASU’s international students in FY2024 is estimated to be 5,954 jobs and $679 million in GSP.
- International students are a key factor that already helped Arizona to become the epicenter for a growing domestic semiconductor industry, highlighted by $160 billion in direct investment from TSMC.
