Rrrrinnnng! School bells are blaring as classes get back in session across the northern hemisphere, but something is increasingly absent from US college classrooms: international students.
There were 110,000 fewer international student visa applications at US colleges and universities for this academic year than last year, a drop of nearly 10%, according to a new report published by NAFSA, a non-profit focused on international education and exchanges.
That comes after two years during which the Trump administration, as part of its push to stem immigration, has increased visa restrictions for students, banned applications from some countries altogether, and revoked more than a thousand international student visas.
The administration has argued that tighter restrictions on foreign students are necessary to protect national security, secure intellectual property, and preserve jobs for American citizens.
The policies contrast starkly with the Biden administration’s expansion of access for foreign students, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty that has dampened on foreign interest in studying at US institutions.
The US still educates more international students than any other country in the world, hosting more than a million of them every year. But its slipping appeal – one study found that the UK is now a more popular destination – can have several important effects.
The first is increased financial strain on colleges and universities. International students, who usually pay full - and often inflated - tuition, account for more than 10 percent of revenue at US higher education schools, despite making up just 6% of enrollment. The dropoff in international students has already forced universities across the country to cut thousands of jobs.
There may also be “soft power” impacts. The US economy has generally benefitted from the desire of the world’s best and brightest minds to study and conduct research at American universities. Many of the biggest drop offs in foreign enrollment have occurred at the post-graduate level. And when foreign students go home to their countries, they often carry a heightened understanding of American culture and norms, which can help to facilitate cross-border business or political ties later on.
