Trump Moves Could Force Universities to Recalculate Their Bottom Lines

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

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4 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

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Summary

The Trump administration has already pulled grant money from Harvard and is threatening to do so at other institutions too. Meanwhile,the administration is pulling hundreds of student visas and moving to deport some. WSJ’s Doug Belkin explains how losing federal grant money could affect universities’ bottom lines. And Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of the Association of International Educators (NAFSA), explains how much international students contribute to universities’ budgets and the impact that losing them could have. Further Reading: Trump Is Going After Universities’ Federal Funding. Here’s What to Know. The Little-Known Bureaucrats Tearing Through American Universities Trump Team to Freeze Nearly $2 Billion at Cornell and Northwestern Universities How Harvard Ended Up Leading the University Fight Against Trump Trump Administration Wants to Install Federal Oversight of Columbia University Former College President Explains Funding Strategies Behind Universities Chinese Students on U.S. Campuses Are Ensnared in Political Standoff Student Visas Are Being Revoked Without Reason or Warning, Colleges Say Harvard-Bound Students Stand Firm While Some Columbia Prospects Think Twice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, What's News listeners.
0:03.7	It's Sunday, April 20th.
0:05.6	I'm Alex Oslo for the Wall Street Journal.
0:07.9	This is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackle the big questions about the biggest stories in the news
0:12.6	by reaching out to our colleagues across the newsroom to help explain what's happening in our world.
0:17.6	On today's show, the Trump administration is threatening to pull grant funding from
0:21.4	institutions like Columbia and has already done so for Harvard. And it's also taking aim at
0:27.4	individual students, pulling hundreds of student visas and even moving to deport some.
0:33.0	What's the impact on universities' bottom lines, their reputation, and their culture?
0:38.8	At the end of the day, universities are businesses. Their budgets are made up of student
0:44.0	tuition, endowments, philanthropic donations, and government grants. Just how big their budgets are
0:49.9	depends on a number of different factors, including, say, how much research the university does.
0:55.5	For example, Harvard spent $6.4 billion in fiscal year 2024.
1:00.8	Later on in the show, we'll speak to Fanta Ave, the executive director and CEO of NAFSA,
1:05.9	the Association of International Educators, about where international students fit into balancing these budgets.
1:12.5	But first, let's zero in on the Trump administration's threats to freeze billions of dollars in grants from institutions and how it's unsettling universities across the country.
1:21.4	Joining me now to discuss the not insignificant impact of federal grants on university budgets is Doug Belkin, who covers higher education for the journal.
1:29.5	So, Doug, let's jump right in. How much does grant money matter to university's bottom line?
1:34.9	So when you add it up, it starts to become real money, and you can see how critical the research amount is for the operating budget.
1:42.5	Research mostly comes from the government and the way it works
1:46.4	is it'll be an agency, the National Institute of Health or a group like that will write a check
1:52.4	to the university. The fiduciary of the university is the board of directors, the trustees, so the
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