As I went back to my 50th class reunion at Yale recently I reflected not just on my fellow classmates but also on the biggest change I see on campus which I can only assume would be the same at other elite schools.

Where are the Americans? I do not say this to sound xenophobic, but I question if we are truly allowing Americans to come “first” to our leading educational institutions.

It is difficult to find records indicating the percentage of international students attending U.S. elite schools in the 1970s, but in 1980 only 6% of Yale had international students. Today Yale and Harvard have about 25%.

We should have international students, but they should not equal a quarter of the school.

This is where the federal government should get involved, not the White House acting unilaterally, but Congress enacting legislation. Instead of investigating nonsense from the past, Congress should buckle down and work to improve America’s future and security into the future. One of the best places to start would be the education of our future leaders.

Through legislation, colleges could reduce taxes on their endowment profits if they agree to return to 1980 levels of international students.

Failing to do so could become a national security concern. It should be remembered that the Al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden was educated at an elite school in England – Oxford University.

A rhetorical question: Why do elite colleges have so many foreign students? Reason: They pay full tuition and make handsome donations to the school. But that should not be a factor in their admittance. That does not sound like “America First.”

The elite colleges have a finite number of rooms and classrooms, with most having an exceptionally low student-teacher ratio to encourage discussion and enhance learning.

The population of America has nearly doubled since I graduated from Yale 50 years ago. Numerically speaking, this should make it nearly twice as hard to get admitted into an elite school. Yet we shrink those possibilities significantly by reserving space for the large numbers of international students.

This is not the same world as in 1975. Back then we had a robust Peace Corps, foreign aid was going to help less developed countries, and we had no economic sanctions on countries we disagreed with.

Today, the list of countries that view America in a less positive light has grown significantly following the turn of the 21st Century.

Why train and educate students whose countries are hostile to the U.S.? During its trade tariff war with President Donald Trump, one of China’s main aims in negotiations is for U.S. colleges to continue enrolling Chinese students.

News flash – China is trying to beat the crap out of us.

Nearly 10 years ago as part of a bipartisan Former Members of Congress delegation to China, I saw it firsthand. Deep down, China thinks we are stupid for giving them so much – like educational advantages that should be reserved for Americans. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s daughter reportedly studies at Harvard under an alias.

I see little value in allowing more than a sliver of folks from other parts of the world onto the campuses of our elite colleges and research colleges. Trust me, Americans do not make up 25% of their leading universities – nor do we want to.

Over 57,000 applicants vie for just 2,146 spots at Yale and 56,000 applicants compete for just 1,937 spots at Harvard. Other elite institutions have comparable admission rates. Despite the high applicant numbers, top American colleges should be aggressively recruiting the best and the brightest from American high schools. Those high schools should in turn better prepare students and become advocates for them. That is what elite prep and boarding schools do.

Let us go back to the limited opportunities for Americans – we need to be giving the best education in the world to our fellow Americans. That is what is going to benefit America the most.

Knowledge is the ultimate power. Let us not help others gain knowledge that can be used to beat us.