US Higher Education Delivers Huge Economic Benefits. Will Politics Endanger it?
Our Privacy Policy has been updated! The Conference Board uses cookies to improve our website, enhance your experience, and deliver relevant messages and offers about our products. Detailed information on the use of cookies on this site is provided in our cookie policy. For more information on how The Conference Board collects and uses personal data, please visit our privacy policy. By continuing to use this Site or by clicking "ACCEPT", you acknowledge our privacy policy and consent to the use of cookies. 

Navigating Washington: Insights for Business

Global Economy Briefs

Timely insights from the Economy, Strategy & Finance Center

US Higher Education Delivers Huge Economic Benefits. Will Politics Endanger it?

April 28, 2025

On April 23, the President signed an executive order targeting the accreditation process for universities and colleges in the United States. This move comes after weeks of actions against a variety of institutions such as Harvard and Columbia University over campus protests, perceived antisemitism, and diversity, equity & inclusion programs. 

Why it matters: Institutions of higher education have long been the basis for significant research programs in the areas of medicine, physics, and applied sciences. In fact, many of the recent innovations benefiting millions of Americans such as mRNA vaccines originated in university and college labs.

In addition, US institutions of higher learning are a significant exporter of education to the rest of the world, attracting 1.1 million international students that have a combined economic impact of roughly

Author

This publication is available to you, but you need to sign in to myTCB® or create an account to access it.

myTCB® Members get exclusive access to webcasts, publications, data and analysis, plus discounts to events.

More From This Series



Press Releases / In the News