A new study by Pew Research Center finds that a federal program that permits foreign students to remain in the United States after graduation if they’ve found temporary employment surged during the 12 years between 2004 and 2016, according to the Associated Press. In 2004, just 45,000 foreign nationals who graduated from American colleges or universities enrolled in the Optional Practical Training program, Pew found, but the total skyrocketed to 172,000 in 2016. The big jump was attributed to two factors: both presidents George W. Bush and Barrack Obama extended the length of stay for STEM majors, and American tech companies stepped up hiring of engineering and science majors, the AP says. One of the coauthors told the news service that the program is a big reason American schools attract so many foreign students. U.S. universities have the world’s biggest foreign population, AP notes, and those students contributed $37 billion to the economy in 2016-17. But America’s position is now in jeopardy, AP adds. Since the election of Donald Trump, foreign enrollment has been sliding—it’s down 7 percent—because of his travel restrictions on some predominantly Muslim countries and tougher competition from Canada, Britain and Australia. Meanwhile, AP says, the Trump administration is thinking of scaling back the temporary employment program.

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