INTERNATIONALIZING U.S. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES WHILE DECREASING THE TRADE DEFICIT: THE POSITIVE DOUBLE WHAMMY

Donald Vest
Lori Boyer
Charles Moses
Clark Atlanta University
ABSTRACT
By way of a well-educated, internationally savvy populace, the United States can possibly
maintain a sense of global prominence and at the same time reduce the nation’s chronic trade
deficit. One way to address the two aforementioned issues is to recruit more international
students to study in the U.S. The strategic recruitment of foreign students to study in America will
result in internationalizing colleges and universities, and the overall trade deficit will be reduced.
The experience of providing an American education to tuition-paying international students who
subsequently share their culture with their American peers will result in a positive double
whammy. The purpose of this research is to advocate for internationalizing U.S. colleges and
universities by intentionally attracting foreign students to study in the U.S. It also examines the
comparative advantage the U.S. has in education as a service export and its contribution in
reducing the trade deficit.