This is not about "valuable" staff. It is very clear that there is overhead based on historical and international benchmarks and such overhead can be identified without much trouble. Over the past decade or two decades the administrative costs have exploded. The salaries paid to some university administrators in the US is just too much and their numbers are mind-boggling. Also a fair number of prestige type buildings have been build which may contribute to student life and college attractiveness but little to student eduction. Some of this excess has been justified by having to compete with other schools but these other schools were also working hard on competing on beauty and not on substance. On the substance side teaching and research staffing is running more and more on short term contracts which either demotivates or forces a focus on publishing meaningless papers.
Besides the high fixed cost the universities are faced with unprecedented open access to information via the internet. Not all what a university does can be replaced but some stuff can. A low cost competitor is taking over part of their business - and probably the most profitable one.
It is not just that Trump made entry to the US more difficult. The cost for education went up. The competition is getting stronger. And the value delivered is decreasing due to lower social mobility. Unless one is going to the very top universities the chances to move up have decreased compared with the past. This is not so say it is not worth it but relatively it is less clear and for some subjects it became very risky.
Besides the high fixed cost the universities are faced with unprecedented open access to information via the internet. Not all what a university does can be replaced but some stuff can. A low cost competitor is taking over part of their business - and probably the most profitable one.
It is not just that Trump made entry to the US more difficult. The cost for education went up. The competition is getting stronger. And the value delivered is decreasing due to lower social mobility. Unless one is going to the very top universities the chances to move up have decreased compared with the past. This is not so say it is not worth it but relatively it is less clear and for some subjects it became very risky.