The number of Chinese nationals enrolled at Michigan State University has dropped nearly 40% since last year, according to records obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Michigan Enjoyer.
In fall 2024 there were 1,074 Chinese students. This year, there are only 686 Chinese students, a 36% decrease. While it’s a good start, MSU should do more to break ties with the communist country and its educational institutions.
Michigan State University’s fall 2024 overall enrollment was 52,089 students, including 4,768 international students. Students from China represented almost a quarter of the foreign student population last year.
University ties to Chinese students have come under scrutiny since multiple research students were caught smuggling dangerous pathogens from China through Detroit Metropolitan Airport intended for U-M in Ann Arbor.
Fusarium graminearum is an agroterrorism pathogen that can destroy wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Its toxins cause vomiting and damage reproductive systems and livers for humans and livestock.
Michigan State University has an active partnership with China’s Nanjing Agriculture University with a focus on “food science” and “biosystems engineering”—an especially alarming alliance considering the link between Chinese spies and their agroterrorism efforts at Michigan’s other flagship university.
The partnership is approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education and a part of MSU’s “Asia Hub Initiative.” The program was recently expanded to include a graduate program.
MSU’s “Asia Hub Initiative” includes an active partnership with eight Chinese Universities, including the Communication University of China, which is focused on “shaping our souls to Marxism” and “serves the governance of the Communist Party of China.”
Michigan State University should end their partnership with Nanjing Agriculture University, if only due to the very real threat of dangerous pathogens that could be brought in by Chinese students. It should also end its partnerships with other Chinese universities and consider further restrictions on Chinese student admissions.
American schools must prioritize American students, freedom, and loyalty to our Constitution, which is fundamentally incompatible with the ideals of the Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China.
Anna Hoffman is a hockey mom of three living in Ann Arbor. Follow her on X @shoesonplease.
