Dive Brief:
- A study led by the Institute of International Education has found that international student interest in colleges in the United States remains at steady levels, despite President Donald Trump’s proposed temporary travel ban from several nations earlier this year and his rhetoric regarding immigrants, according to The Washington Post.
- University officials have been working with international student applicants in the months since Trump’s inauguration, working with them to assess how national policy might influence their enrollment, and the IIE study found that the drop in the number of enrolled international students matched domestic declines.
- Authors of the study did worry particularly about how the proposed travel ban might affect students from the impacted countries, as well as whether students would choose to attend even if they were allowed — though a separate study in May still showed a pronounced drop in international graduate students.
Dive Insight:
The news that foreign student enrollment hasn't dropped in the aftermath of Trump’s inauguration is welcome news to higher ed institutions, which often depend on the higher tuition rates international students often pay to offset discounts and financial aid offered to students from within the state. However, it complicates news from earlier this year reported by the New York Times that applications from foreign students had dropped precipitously in recent months. While enrollment has remained steady, it is more difficult to determine the impact the nation's political climate is having on international students who may have considered the U.S. as a potential educational destination but no longer do so.
Higher ed institutions can endeavor to offer more outreach and communication for international students, many of whom may be willing to consider American higher ed institutions if they are able to receive assurances from those institutions that they will still be able to gain entry to the U.S. Colleges and universities can invest in more social media marketing focus and resources, as well as new tech tools that can help international students feel like they are getting the benefit of the information that can best be gleaned from a physical visit to a college or university. This could help ensure that even if schools are able to maintain a steady level of international enrollment, they continue to have a diverse and robust pool of applicants.