International Students Bolster U.S. Trade Revenue
January 5, 2026
Chile Emenuga is Communications Specialist in the Office of Public Affairs
Did you know: international student spending in the United States is a trade export?
Indeed, international travel trade consists of transactions involving goods and services acquired by nonresidents while visiting another country. In other words, non-U.S. residents purchasing goods and services while in the United States counts as export income for the U.S. economy. Alternately, U.S. residents purchasing goods or services while outside the United States counts as export income for another country and as a U.S. import.
In late 2025, the International Trade Administration released the latest available data showing that during the first nine months of the year (January to September), international visitors spent a record $188.1 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services, accounting for 7.4 percent of total U.S. trade in goods and services. International visitors contributed, on average, nearly $689 million a day into the U.S. economy during this time.
A key driver of this economic contribution is $56.5 billion categorized under “Medical, Education, Short-Term Worker Spending” in export data. Of this total, international student spending accounts for an estimated 75.4% of spending – $42.6 billion, or 23% of total travel exports through the first nine months of 2025. This spending includes tuition, room and board, health care costs, and other expenditures by international students while studying in the United States. And these international students are spending across America.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), as of November 2025, the states of California, New York and Texas are home to nearly one-third of the more than 1.25 million international college students nationwide; 12.6% at universities in California, 11.8% in New York, and 7.7% in Texas.
Illinois Institute of Technology has the highest share of international students among American universities, with 52% percent of its students hailing from overseas. Many of the United States’s universities that have large contingents of international students are concentrated in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Pacific regions of the country.
Since President Trump assumed office in January, America continues to attract undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral program candidates.
According to figures published by the Department of Homeland Security, as of October, active student visas for bachelor’s and master’s programs are just under 0.9% and 1.7% percent, respectively, compared with the previous year, while doctoral student visas rose by 2%.
With over $180 billion in travel exports through the first several months of the year and over $40 billion in education-related spending, it’s clear that international student spending contributes significantly to U.S. economic activity, both in the short- and long-term. A significant portion of international students return to their countries of origin following the completion of their education, while some international students remain in the United States long-term, building their careers and lives here.
The United States continues to offer an unmatched variety of destinations for international visitors, including international students, and the record-breaking inbound travel spending under the Trump Administration is a testament to the President’s leadership in revitalizing American prosperity and ushering in a Golden Age of tourism.
As the United States prepares to host major international events in the months and years ahead, namely the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games, U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs will continue to reap the benefits of America’s status as the world’s premier travel destination.