did the administration think of the downstream effects of $100k h1b fee? let’s maybe try mapping it out, shall we? the h1b tightening (or even just the perception that h1b is a dead end) potentially nukes the intl student pipeline. right now intl tuition is a subsidy engine. full freight chinese & indian students bankroll the entire higher ed budget model. if job prospects vanish, that revenue collapses. if this happens universities cut research budgets, hire fewer postdocs, labs shrink. the us’s comparative advantage in STEM production erodes. rankings slip because rankings are basically a weighted combo of research output, funding, & prestige. that then feeds back into fewer elite applicants, further decline. then companies that depended on the churn of cheap phd labor for innovation (esp semiconductors, biotech, ai labs) lose a critical feedstock. the us historically imported brains as a growth hack.. killing h1b is essentially self sabotage.