Singapore, too, is reaping the benefits. Home to two of the world’s top 30 institutions — the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University — the city-state is a magnet for talent such as Lei. Its welcoming visa policy, which allows graduates to stay for up to two years to find work, stands in stark contrast to the perceived precariousness of the American system. Of the 93,000 international students in Singapore as of June 2024, an estimated 60% are from China, according to data from Singaporean newspaper Lianhe Zaobao.