A snapshot study carried out across 700 universities in the United States (US) revealed that 90% of the surveyed institutions had reported a combined total of nearly 40,000 enrollment deferrals by international students for Fall 2020, resulting in an unprecedented and staggering 43% drop in overall international student admissions. This is the largest decrease recorded by the Institute of International Education, which has been publishing data on international enrollment since 1954. Several U.S. universities have already reported hard-hitting losses in millions, with only more to come as the pandemic drags on. Although much of this can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, these statistics are reflective of deeper and burgeoning problems of isolationism and indeed racism in US politics that ignore and waste the unique and invaluable intellectual capital, job growth, diversity, and revenue offered by a rich tapestry of international students. Given this predicament, it is crucial to ask whether the US can still salvage its shrinking higher education industry.
Historically, the US has been the go-to destination for students across the world to pursue higher education abroad. However, over the past few years, several factors have contributed to it facing severe competition from Canada, Australia, Ireland, Germany, and even New Zealand, all of which offer highly attractive work and study experiences during and after education. Apart from the great quality of education and infrastructure, these competitors also provide extensive subsidies and affordable healthcare to students, and also have more relaxed laws on work visas and permanent residence. According to a survey of international students by Studyportals, 62% of participants mentioned that being able to work in the country following the completion of their degree is very important to them—something that the US struggles to uniformly provide.
In fact, the international student population in the US’ neighbour and competitor Canada has multiplied six-fold over the past two decades, with admissions tripling in the last decade. The Canadian government has estimated that international students contribute approximately $22 billion annually to the country’s economy and help sustain over 170,000 jobs. Part of this reason is that Canada allows students to work while they study, obtain a post-graduation work permit, and additionally offers over 80 economic class immigration streams to choose from.
On the other hand, the US has only increasingly amplified the message that it is wary of the intentions of international students and that their talent and contributions are not welcome. Only two months ago, the Trump administration proposed severely restrictive changes to the student (category F) and exchange visitors (category J) visa, which, if approved, would force students to apply for an extension of stay after only two to four years of study, depending on their country of citizenship. Those pursuing PhD degrees, which are ideally four to over six years long in some cases, would theoretically be forced to apply for extension several times over the course of their degree, making an already complicated process more expensive and burdensome. The high backlog of applications at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also result in long and uncertain wait times, further adding to the anxiety of international students.
To add more uncertainty to existing hurdles, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a prolonged shutdown of several American embassies and consulates across the world, leaving several new and prospective students unable to appear for visa interviews. And for those who were already in the US, panic ensued when the Trump administration proposed in July that all international students who were only enrolled in online classes would be forced to return home. This coincided with a time when international travel was either largely non-existent or was limited to emergency repatriation flights and air bubble flights, most of which were relatively expensive. Luckily, at least 20 states and over two dozen universities, including MIT and Harvard, filed lawsuits against this policy change and it was eventually rescinded, but the administration had made its message clear.
Another drawback of US policy on foreign students is its lack of adaptability. For instance, the F visa stipulates that international students cannot seek work outside of their educational campuses, or else they risk deportation and possibly a lifelong travel ban from the US. Given the closure of educational institutes during the ongoing pandemic and the fact that international students are not entitled to stimulus cheques or unemployment benefits, there was a faint hope that the policy would be relaxed to allow them to diversify their limited income channels during extenuating circumstances. Other study-abroad destinations like Australia, Germany, and France already allowed international students to work part-time with companies off-campus before the pandemic hit. However, as expected, such allowances were not made, and a multitude of students were forced to pack up with little planning and board repatriation flights back to their home countries with no definite plan of return. At the same time, they are continuing to pay exorbitant in-person tuition rates, only to study online with significant shortcomings.
Many recent graduates also lost out on their chance to apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT), as government offices that process these applications shut down. Even for those with valid employment cards, jobs became scarcer and more competitive than before, as millions of newly unemployed Americans were also now added to the competition pool. Alongside the legal, travel and health-related challenges, the cost of living for students increased in some cases where internet plans had to be upgraded to support online education. Grocery bills also shot up to an extent, given the high demand, hoarding, and consequent shortage of basic necessity and hygiene items at physical and online stores.
Against this backdrop, American universities are staring down the barrel of billions of dollars in lost revenue, given that international students typically pay much higher tuition fees than their American counterparts. Several departments in big and small universities have altogether closed applications for the upcoming academic year—even to domestic students—due to lack of funding, resources, and problems faced with digitalizing their education. Economically, international students in the US generate about $41 billion in revenue. Their importance is also acknowledged by the private sector, because international students come in with acute knowledge of foreign markets and cultures, are already familiar and comfortable with local culture, and have formal education. High-tech companies depend on such qualified foreign workers to add on to the pool of local talent. By simply tapping into the rich milieu of foreign students in local universities, companies save on costs and resources that they would have otherwise dedicated to hiring high workers abroad.
However, it is important to note that the US had been falling behind other study-abroad destinations even before the pandemic peaked in the course of 2020. In the 2018-19 academic year, new enrollment of international students at US universities was recorded to be 10.4% lower than in 2015-16. The 2019-20 academic year, which started prior to the pandemic, marked the fourth consecutive year that new enrollment of international students had decreased from the previous year. It is interesting that for the same period, while enrollment of Indian students in graduate-level computer science and engineering programs at US universities declined by more than 25% between the 2016-17 and 2018-19 academic year, the Canadian Bureau for International Education reported an increase of 127% in Indian students studying at Canadian universities during the same period.
That being said, the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine being 95% effective is encouraging, and universities are beginning to see this as a unique opportunity to reinvigorate international student applications. For example, several institutes have waived off their requirement for standardized tests, including Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), which had been mandatory until recently but are now difficult to take given the closure of testing centres globally. Many have also moved back the start date of the upcoming spring semester by at least a week to accommodate new international students who are facing visa processing delays. Nevertheless, while this is a small step forward in bleak times, it still leaves the US running far behind in the competition for the unique skills and the invaluable revenue offered by international students.
Therefore, the new administration will have to do a lot more if they intend on keeping the education sector lucrative. To begin with, it must rescind Trump’s proposed changes to the F and J program and revert to the US’ longstanding policy of international students being admitted for ‘duration of status’. Further, should endeavour to provide F category visa holders dual intent—which allows foreigners the option to immigrate in the future, while maintaining a nonimmigrant status in the present—and do away with the proposed rule that awards H-1B status to those with the highest incomes, which would only attract senior professionals, instead of the lottery system that awards the status to recent graduates.
The Biden administration must also seek to recognize the unique circumstances presented by the current pandemic and instead use it to position the US as a country that both respects and values its international student community. One way in which this can be achieved is by allowing students to seek work outside of their educational campuses, at least a temporary measure, so as to reduce their financial burden.
Furthermore, the OPT can be made more accessible by extending the application time, reducing processing time by the USCIS, and by better educating human resource departments across industries on the process of hiring recently graduated international students. The ‘duration of status’ can also be extended for students in non-technical fields, for whom it is currently only one year with no possibility of extension.
Promisingly, it appears that such requests have not fallen on deaf ears, and Joe Biden was also quoted to have pledged to provide a pathway to permanent residence and citizenship to PhD graduates and reduce their lengthy application processing time. International students are vital to the US economy and the future. Even though the challenges are many and significant, with the right set of policies, the US could effectively regain its status as the number one destination for education abroad.
Can the US Reverse the Decline in International Student Admissions?
The US faces stiff competition from Australia and Canada in securing international admissions to universities, which has been further exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. Can it regain its lost glory?
November 20, 2020
SOURCE: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty