Do international students crowd-out or cross-subsidize Americans in higher education?

Recent growth in international enrollment at U.S. universities has raised controversy. While critics accuse international students of displacing American students, university administrators have argued that they provide much needed tuition revenue. This paper examines how international students impact domestic enrollment, focusing on a unique boom and bust in international matriculation into U.S. graduate programs from 1995 to 2005. Overall foreign students appear to increase domestic enrollment. This positive effect is linked to cross-subsidization, whereby high net tuition payments from foreign students help subsidize the cost of enrolling additional domestic students.