U.S. B-Schools Grapple With The Trump Effect'

Foreigners are steering away from American MBA programs

The U.S. is becoming “less inclusive and less diverse”

- Nick Leiber

In January, Rodrigo Paolucci sold his 50-person video distribution startup in São Paulo, planning to go to business school overseas. Although he’d long dreamed of getting an MBA in Silicon Valley or New York, he applied only to the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. The reason: The Trump administration’s anti-immigration rhetoric “makes it harder for foreigners,” says Paolucci, who got a scholarship from Rotman that covers 40 percent of tuition. Just as important, his wife will be able to work as soon as they move to Toronto this summer, and they’ll be able to stick around for three years after he graduates. “Of course you want to be at Stanford or Columbia, but you have to place your bets,” says Paolucci, 31. “Top talent is going to go where it’s welcome.”