Fewer international students are coming to the United States, and that’s really hurting the national economy.
Nationally, international student enrollment has been falling steadily since 2016. New international student enrollments declined by 0.9% during the 2018-2019 academic year, following a 6.6% decline in new enrollments in the year prior, according to the most recent US Department of State Open Doors report. This marks the first time the United States has seen a three-year decline. This trend has cost the US economy $11.8 billion and more than 65,000 jobs, according to estimates from NAFSA: Association of International Educators, an international association of professional educators.
Survey data from NAFSA suggests that two of the major factors in the current decline are that it is more difficult to get a student visa to the US and the anti-immigration rhetoric of the current administration makes them feel unwanted and unsafe. “There’s many variables, but largely it’s been the policies and rhetoric from the current administration that’s really driven the numbers to move in that direction,” said Rachel Banks, director of public policy at NAFSA. “It’s not only the anti-immigrant rhetoric being expressed by this administration, there’s also increasing concern with regard to gun violence in this country,” said Banks. “There’s been a number of shootings and that gets reported worldwide, and parents certainly take all of this into account when they are thinking about where they want to send their children to study.”
The Trump administration denies their role in this decline, citing the cost of US education as the primary reason internationals aren’t enrolling at the same rate. The Trump administration has made “more efforts than ever in outreach to international students,” and “to mitigate against the cost of education in the US,” said Caroline Casagrande, deputy assistant secretary for academic programs at the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural affairs.
Whatever the reason, the cost to the US economy is real. US universities are one of our country’s major sources of foriegn income. As manufacturing and most exports have moved overseas, the prestige of an American education has been one of the primary reasons for internationals to come to the US. International students are significant to school budgets, as many colleges and universities collect higher tuition from them.
According to NAFSA, for every seven international students, three US jobs are created or supported by spending in sectors including higher education, accommodations, dining, retail, and transportation. The more than one million international students currently enrolled at US colleges and universities contributed nearly $41 billion to the US economy, and supported 458,290 jobs during the 2018-2019 academic year.
Defying the national trend, U.W. Madison has seen an uptick in international enrollment over the past few years. The freshman class of 2022 has 595 international students, up from 550 last year. Programs like Madison International Partners help international students and their parents feel like they will be welcomed and supported locally, even if the national political climate may be hostile. As services like ours grow, Madison will increasingly become a top choice amongst international students; which will support our economy and maintain diversity in our city.
