Strategic internationalisation and epistemic hierarchies: a critical analysis of US federal programs in higher education

This conceptual study examines how US federal programs shape higher education internationalisation through differentiated policy mechanisms linking state strategy, institutional practice, and global knowledge production. Analysing six programs, Fulbright, Title VI, EducationUSA, USAID, NIH initiatives, and OPT/STEM OPT, through document analysis and a two-stage coding approach, the study develops a model of geopolitically embedded internationalisation. Rather than treating internationalisation as a uniform process, the study identifies distinct mechanisms, including normative standardisation, informational steering, strategic knowledge prioritisation, conditional capacity-building, networked centralisation, and talent capture. These mechanisms structure variations in how institutions engage with global mobility, research collaboration, and workforce integration, while reproducing uneven epistemic relations. A post-critical perspective is used analytically to explain how institutions navigate these policy constraints through alignment and incremental adaptation rather than idealised transformation. The study advances a mechanism-based framework that shifts analysis from generalised critique towards explanatory specification of how geopolitical influence operates within higher education.