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Rising U.S. tuition outpaces gains in employability, wage premiums, and perceived quality, weakening the return on investment for students and families. At the same time, polarization, intolerance, and strained international relations reduce trust and predictability, while visa restrictions and campus politicization intensify structural vulnerabilities.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/divergent-business-models-in-international-higher-education-a-transatlantic-comparison/583254/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/divergent-business-models-in-international-higher-education-a-transatlantic-comparison/583254.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Jake","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-12","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"Why does the paper argue that the U.S. higher education business model is becoming unsustainable?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"It points to a growing mismatch between escalating tuition costs and weaker improvements in employability, wage premiums, and perceived educational quality, which undermines the return on investment.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"What political developments does the paper describe as accelerating pressures on international students?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"It highlights hardline stances toward international students, including visa actions, heightened scrutiny, deportations tied to political protests, and broader deterioration of trust in the U.S. as a destination.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"Why does the paper present Europe as an alternative to the U.S. system?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"Europe is described as credible because it offers substantially lower costs, consistently high average education quality, and a deliberate internationalization strategy, including English-taught programs and globally aligned business schools.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},583254,1792191654,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":145,"read_time":146,"preview_page_count":4},962084928904,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","UC Berkeley  \nResearch and Occasional Papers Series  \nTitle  \nDivergent Business models in international higher education: A transatlantic comparison  \nPermalink  \n[https://escholarship.org/uc/item/385370m4](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/385370m4)  \nJournal  \nResearch and Occasional Paper Series  \nAuthors  \nAudretsch, David  \nCivera, Alice Meoli, Michele et al.  \nPublication Date  \n2026-03-16  \nPeer reviewed  \n[eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library  \nUniversity of California  \nResearch & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE 1.2026  \nDIVERGENT BUSINESS MODELS IN INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION:  \nA TRANSATLANTIC COMPARISON  \nMarch 2026  \nDavid B. Audretsch  \nIndiana University Bloomington  \nAlice Civera  \nUniversity of Bergamo  \nMichele Meoli  \nUniversity of Bergamo  \nStefano Paleari  \nUniversity of Bergamo  \nCopyright 2026 David B. Audretsch, Alice Civera, Michele Meoli, Stefano Paleari, all rights reserved.  \nABSTRACT  \nThe share of international students in the United States has been declining for several years, a trend that predates and has been accelerated by recent political developments but ultimately reflects the growing unsustainability of the American higher education business model. Tuition costs in the United States have risen dramatically, while gains in employability, wage premiums, and perceived educational quality have not kept pace. As a result, the return on investment of American higher education is increasingly questioned by students, families, and international applicants alike. At the same time, political polarization, rising intolerance, and the deterioration of international relations—most visibly during the Trump administrations—have undermined trust in the United States as a welcoming and predictable destination for global talent. Visa restrictions, heightened scrutiny of foreign students, and the politicization of campuses have amplified structural weaknesses that were already present.  \nEurope emerges as a credible alternative not because it reproduces the U.S. system, but because it offers a fundamentally different model: substantially lower costs, a broadly high average quality of education, and a deliberate strategy of internationalization, particularly through English-taught programs and globally aligned business schools. This alternative, however, is not without limits: European higher education lacks a comparable concentration of flagship universities and faces its own political and demographic challenges. By reframing the transatlantic comparison as a divergence between business models rather than systems, this paper contributes to debates on globalization, competition, and the future geography of higher education.  \nINTRODUCTION  \nWith the inauguration of President Donald Trump’s second term in early 2025, U.S. universities braced for renewed pressure from an administration eager to reshape the landscape of higher education. Trump’s administration accelerated its hardline stance on international students. Visa revocation for Chinese students and broadened scrutiny across the board have been vowed. Concurrently, deportations of students involved in political protests, notably pro-Palestinian, sparked fear across campuses. These restrictive moves coincided with a 61 percent plunge in global interest in U.S. graduate in the first months of 2025, according to the Fall 2025 Snapshot on International Student Enrollment (1) . In addition, the enrollment of international students decreased by 17% during the last academic year. These actions have thus sent a chilling message about the reception of foreign students and scholars and erodes trust.  \nHowever, the Trump administration is just the last step in a longer process. The university system in the United States has stood above the fray of global competition, dominating its counterparts across the globe. American universities have long ruled as the best the world has to offer. As President Jimmy Carter proudly cele","cbCait2KMfmhweIr","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCait2KMfmhweIr","pdf",572747,13,"English","# Introduction\n## Background: U.S. pressures and enrollment decline\n## Historical analogy: erosion of dominance\n## Paper’s core argument and scope","[{\"question\":\"Why does the paper argue that the U.S. higher education business model is becoming unsustainable?\",\"answer\":\"It points to a growing mismatch between escalating tuition costs and weaker improvements in employability, wage premiums, and perceived educational quality, which undermines the return on investment.\"},{\"question\":\"What political developments does the paper describe as accelerating pressures on international students?\",\"answer\":\"It highlights hardline stances toward international students, including visa actions, heightened scrutiny, deportations tied to political protests, and broader deterioration of trust in the U.S. as a destination.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the paper present Europe as an alternative to the U.S. system?\",\"answer\":\"Europe is described as credible because it offers substantially lower costs, consistently high average education quality, and a deliberate internationalization strategy, including English-taught programs and globally aligned business schools.\"}]","Divergent Business models in international higher education - A transatlantic comparison | PDF",1792046477,33]