Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell called on students to protect democracy while praising American universities as “a crucial national asset”, days after the Trump administration escalated its attacks on higher education.

After the government terminated his legal status in the U.S., one student abruptly lost his laboratory job in Houston and, fearing detention, he returned to his home country in south Asia on a one-way ticket.

The Trump administration’s move to bar Harvard University from enrolling international students has ricocheted across China, with officials and commentators seeing it through one lens: the growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

Amid President Trump's "America First" rhetoric and policies, which have affected trade and led to more restrictive immigration policies, does the United States' reputation, buoyed by prestigious top universities and cutting-edge firms,