Halley Froehlich wanted to work in the United States.

Her family lived there since the 1700s.

But her federal grants were late.

She also feared the future.

So she moved to Finland with her husband and daughter.

Now she studies seafood and climate change at the University of Helsinki.

The Trump administration began to change the federal grant process.

It wanted more political control over funded projects.

Foreign universities saw a chance to hire U.S. researchers.

They offered stabler funding and academic freedom.

Many scientists said yes.

Scientists and professional groups say the shift is clear.

They say it is unprecedented and concerning.

But no one can count it nationally.

White House spokesperson Liz Huston said Trump is "ending waste."

She said he wants America to stay the world leader in science.

More than half of U.S. states have lost scientists.

Other countries' recruitment programs took them.

This comes from an April report by the Business for Federal Research Funding Coalition.

Physics Ph.D. graduates left the U.S. in 2025 at the highest rate in 30 years.

The American Institute of Physics found this.

Canada, France, Belgium and Finland are among the countries touting their recruits.

Christine Stawitz is now at the University of Birmingham in England.

She said the U.S. used to be "the shining city on the hill."

She said its reputational loss is hard to count but really damaging.

Some researchers came to the U.S. from abroad.

Now some of them are leaving too.

Biologists James Letts and Maria Maldonado came from Canada and Argentina.

They left the University of California, Davis for Monash University in Australia.

Omar Yaghi won the 2025 Nobel chemistry prize.

He left UC Berkeley for Tsinghua University in China.

The U.S. is still a science powerhouse.

Many scientists are staying.

But the administration has cut or frozen up to $174 billion in federal grants.

Major research institutions accepted 15% fewer doctoral applicants for fall 2026 than the year before.