Possible causes for this sudden decline can be explained by our current political and social climate. Given our political state, international students will be turned off by applying to US schools because the process for getting a visa is too difficult, and even if they did get one, they wouldn’t feel safe in America due to the anti-immigrant rhetoric and uncontrolled gun violence. Parents of international students take into account the number of school shootings, and caution against sending their kids to study in America.
Statistics show a 0.9% decline in the 2018-2019 academic year, after an already 6.6% decline in new enrollments the year before. The Trump Administration, however, argues that the reason for lower enrollments is due to the high tuition prices of colleges and claims they’re making efforts to reach out to international students and mitigate the cost of education in the United States.
The decline in international students greatly affects the universities financially. For example, California State University Northridge lost 26% of revenue loss (about $6.5 million) from the years 2016-2019. In addition to revenue loss, lots of job opportunities were lost as every seven international students provide 3 United States jobs according to NAFSA. Because they high payer tuition, international students benefit the economy and school budgets more than in-state students. In the past 2018-2019 school year, one million international students contributed nearly $41 billion to the US economy and created 458,290 jobs.
With fewer international students wanting to go study in the United States, a worldwide competition for international students exists between countries like Canada, Australia, and China. As the United States growth rate declines, competitor countries experience double growth.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/19/business/international-students-decline/index.html
This is a good fact to point out as a good friend of mine rerouted his future plan of attending a university in the UK after the commotion of Brexit rose up. He was afraid of how it might affect him as a foreigner so I believe the political and social climate of America has definitely influenced international students from seeking to gain higher education elsewhere. Hopefully, the awareness of how important International students are and how the American economy thrives from their help might increase the incentive to improve our society; not only to better our economy but also for the sake of our future.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that the American dream is "dead". From my dad's experience, he came to America from India in hopes to make a lot of money and be successful. He did become successful in a sense of wealth but it was very much based on luck. Without having a full ride, my dad would not have been able to afford an American college education. Compared to countries where college costs $2,000 a year, and minimum wages that are double or triple than the US federal minimum wage, an American college degree is not as appealing anymore. I also heard from some people that international students that apply for financial aid are often not accepted based off of the fact that they would have to be given aid to attend. Universities tend to take the richest international students.
ReplyDeleteAs an immigrant from China, I have a lot of Chinese friends in China. And many of my friends in China were originally Choosing to come to U.S. for college, however, due to the so many mass shooting and how hard to apply as international student, he choose to go to Canada instead.
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