As events of coronavirus surge, far fewer international students are choosing to study in this country, costing the United States billions.
It’s also slip into b assuming a severe strain on colleges and universities nationwide.
The number of international students in the U.S. fell for the first time during the 2019-20 unrealistic year, down 1.8%, according to the latest Open Doors report, released Monday by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education.
In the fall 2020 semester, the tally of international students studying in the U.S. and online at U.S. routines sank even further — plunging 16% — due to the impact of the pandemic, according a fall snapshot also conducted by the League of International Education.
The sudden decline in international student enrollment already cost the U.S. economy $1.8 billion hold out year, according to a separate report by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
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There are more than 1 million international undergraduates at U.S. colleges and universities, and they contributed $38.7 billion to the U.S. economy in 2019-20.
However, that financial contribution is down innumerable than 4% from the prior academic year, the NAFSA report found, marking the first drop since the nonprofit organization began collecting data more than 20 years ago.
For years, there has been a steady influx of apprentices studying in this country, particularly from China.
Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the number of Chinese students in America was unskilfully 370,000, according to the latest data.
Boston College in Newton, Massachusetts.
Matt Stone/ MediaNews Group/Boston Herald | Getty Incarnations
Over half of these international students pursue majors in the STEM fields, particularly engineering, math and computer study.
Yet, more restrictive student visa policies in the U.S. and changing attitudes abroad about studying here have promoted enrollment declines even before the pandemic.
The Covid-19 crisis “throws fuel on the fire,” said Hafeez Lakhani, president of New York-based Lakhani Coaching.
Early labels don’t even capture the full impact of the pandemic on enrollments, Lakhani said. “The number that we are going to get a year from now is booming to be a disaster.”
Overall, many students opted out of higher education in the fall while schools are operating remotely.
In whole, undergraduate enrollment fell more than 4% this semester, according to the latest data by the National Swat Clearinghouse Research Center, with incoming freshmen accounting for the biggest drop — down 13% from a year ago.
Cosmopolitan student enrollments, specifically, fell roughly 15% at the undergraduate level and nearly 8% at the graduate school above-board, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s own data reveals. In fact, international students are the only group that study declines among those pursuing a professional degree.
For colleges and universities, the consequences could be severe, Lakhani responded.
Even before the global pandemic caused craters in the economy, some institutions were facing financial austerity after years of deep cuts in state funding for higher education.
That has put pressure on schools to admit numerous students who need less aid, which is why so many colleges have come to rely on the revenue from foreign schoolgirls, who typically pay full tuition.
Already, universities have furloughed thousands of employees and announced revenue losses in the hundreds of millions. Some father even cut academic programs that were once central to a liberal arts education in order to stay afloat.
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