Realignments in Geopolitics Impacts Higher Education and Research

An article published in the January 21, 2026, edition of University World News describes how policies enacted by Donald Trump’s administration have affected norms in post-secondary education.

The article’s focus was the U.S.-China rivalry for science and high-tech talent. It described how foreign student restrictions in America were even spilling over into Canada. It made me question Trump’s policies in regard to potential fallout for America’s future scientific and technological progress. Would this also impact Canada? What could Canada do to mitigate this challenge?

Before Trump 2.0

America welcomed thousands of post-graduate overseas students to its universities and its big technology companies before Trump’s second term. That, however, is no longer the case. Trump policies, instead, have reversed or redirected the flow of talent to other countries.

What are these new Trump policies?

• The U.S. has slashed federal grants and research funds to blue-state academic institutions like Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, and Columbia.
• The U.S. has upped H-1B annual visa fees that varied from $215 to $780 to $100,000, with an impact on big technology hiring.

A reality check is needed. Just a quick read of U.S. science and technology journal articles shows:

• A majority involve international author collaborations with overseas schools and research labs.
• Non-American post-graduate students and researchers in the U.S. are well represented in author accreditations.
• Contributions to American science and technology research and patent filings involve many non-Americans studying in the U.S.

One wonders, under these Trump policies, how much longer America will continue to draw the best and most talented minds from abroad?

Geopolitical Fallout Hits Post-Secondary Education

Trump’s “America First” is disrupting global higher education. The policies restrict international programs that have been a feature of the scientific and technological advancements seen around the world today.

The likely fallout is that America’s dominance as a research hub will wane. Instead, what is emerging is a multipolar academic landscape with other countries relaxing visa requirements, expanding scholarship offerings and establishing new programs to draw the most talented future scientists and engineers away from the U.S.

The U.S. big technology firms are feeling the pain from $100,000 annual visa fees. They have seen per-hire expenses escalate dramatically with Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google, OpenAI, Apple, and others fear they will be limited to the local talent pool. What will that do to the progress of science and technology innovation in America? How will that help China and other countries compete?

The fallout from Trump’s policies for American universities means lower foreign enrollments. Before upping the visa application fees to $100,000, 85,000 were accepted annually, bringing skilled, post-secondary science and technology educated students to American schools.

Now, international students are going elsewhere. The result is that U.S. universities are losing up to 30% of annual tuition revenue. This is being compounded by the Trump administration’s cuts to university research grants, mostly in Democratic-blue states, totalling over $1 billion annually. For U.S. universities, this is death by a thousand cuts.

Where The Talent Is Going

Competitors for attracting the higher-educated talent pool include Canada, the European Union, the UK, Australia, and China.

Canada

In January 2026, Canada’s federal government began streamlining the process for admitting foreign students to Master’s and PhD programs, waiving study permit caps, and creating a two-week fast track for high-value research applicants. The federal 2026 budget included CDN $1.7 billion to recruit international researchers and to establish new research chairs at Canadian universities.

In addition, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec created fast-track post-graduate express entry to attract researchers in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, the health sciences, clean tech and digital innovation.

As of this March, more than 150 U.S.-based researchers have relocated to Canadian universities from schools like MIT, UC Berkeley and Stanford.

European Union

EU governments, European universities and companies are responding to the opportunity that Trump’s America First policies are giving them. France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian countries have lowered visa fees and expanded quotas to attract the spillover of high science and tech talent.

It means that the past European brain drain to the U.S. is now reversed. How significant was this? From 1998 to 2013, annual EU green card applicants to the U.S. averaged more than 61,000 annually. Last year, after Trump announced new visa fees and reductions in federal grants to American post-secondary institutions, the drain has turned into a brain gain for Europe. Asian countries’ post-secondary talent is now being redirected to the EU.

United Kingdom

Last September, the UK announced the streamlining of high-skilled, highly-educated talent. Universities increased their promotions to recruit international students. High Potential Individual visa numbers were expanded, aimed to capture talent leaving the U.S. after university research grants there were cancelled.

UK government policies in the post-Brexit era slowed the inflow of skilled workers and graduates from abroad. The new opportunity that U.S. policies have created is leading to a re-evaluation.

As of March 2026, however, there is no data to reflect a brain gain.

Australia

Australian universities have technology partnerships with American institutions, presenting problems for ongoing future cooperation. The cancellation of American research grants has impacted seven institutions, including the Australian National University (ANU), University of Technology Sydney, University of New South Wales, Monash University, Macquarie University, Charles Darwin University, and the University of Western Australia.

Skilled foreign workers (43%) and foreign post-graduate students represent a significant number in Australia. In light of Trump’s policies, efforts are being made to fast-track and streamline foreign student applications. Research Training Programs are increasing annual stipends. Intern programs are providing industry placement subsidies to Australian businesses.

China

China’s push to overtake the U.S. through Trump’s “America First” policies has been given a strategic opening to recruit global top talent and reverse the current talent brain drain to the U.S.

China has reacted. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has created the Qiming Program aimed at science and technology experts.  It offers PhDs with bonuses, housing, and family support.

A young scientist program offers opportunities and a salary to attend Chinese universities and work for 6 months to a year in residence. To this, add a fast-track visa that prioritizes science and technology-talented youth to obtain residency in cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

The result, so far, has seen 85 scientists in 2025 leave the U.S. to do their research in China.

Summing Up The Economic and Geopolitical Fallout

The sum of Trump’s policies is quickly becoming apparent. Other nations will gain while America loses. U.S. companies will experience talent shortages. Leadership in technology and science may be lost. Market dominance may end, and trillions in lost revenue from knowledge-intensive industries will be the result. For U.S. science and technology, after Trump, the rebuilding effort to restore the country’s national reputation and primacy may take decades.