re: 55% of Columbia student body is foreign

This is happening at a lot of regular universities, too, I’d imagine.

I have personal experience with this phenomenon.

Two of my daughters [no pics at all of anyone ever don’t ask, lol] are enrolled in the registered nursing program at a local university and are on full or partial academic scholarships.

At the pinning ceremony, our family noticed that about 15% of the students were from another country. We asked about it (tactfully) and were told basically what many in this thread are saying: foreign students pay more in tuition and fees allowing the college of nursing to stay in the black, so to speak.

Without SOMEONE paying full price, it would be more difficult for the university to offer scholarships to local kids. This is not the only way scholarships are funded, obviously. It’s just one reason there might be a surprising number of foreign students at local colleges and universities.

Also, the United States isn’t perfect by a long shot, but people still see it as a desirable place to live and be educated.
So there’s that, too.