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Comment by SpicyLemonZest | Hacker News Reader

Some Americans definitely argue that the US should invest less time and effort into maintaining its international image.

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Or they think it is ultimately better for the US international image to educate its own people.

International students are a funding source for US universities. They're a net positive if your objective is to educate your own people.

I'm all for international students but when you say they are a net positive, are they competing with US students for admission slots? If they are, that would seem to put pressure on prices US students have to pay as well as make admission that much harder.

In a normal business, someone spending $20 for something that cost $10 to make would not decrease the availability for anyone else, because the company would be able to make two widgets for every one widget they bought.

There's already something very fishy about the university system that anyone who can pay more than they cost isn't let in. Why do admission slots even exist?

universities aren't aws nodes that can be instantly spun up to meet demand. it takes time (and possibly more land) to build new buildings and hire new teaching staff without compromising the quality of the education. the wealthiest institutions can afford to ignore ability to pay, but most need a certain fraction of their students to actually pay the full price.

Most exclusive schools have been exclusive for several generations. There's no way to explain the scarcity of seats at Harvard by saying "they haven't had time to recruit new professors."

Tons of international students stay in the US. They become "its own people".

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