New international student enrollment at United States colleges dropped by 43% this fall, according to a survey by the Institute of International Education.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of students who were unable to leave their home countries deferred their admission or called off their studies completely, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Despite the significance of the current drop, international enrollments were already declining before the onset of COVID-19, according to data from IEE and the U.S. State Department.
The pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty for international students at Penn, who have grappled with rapidly changing Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies and the difficulties of traveling during the pandemic. Many Penn international students contemplated taking a gap year.
About one in five international students is currently taking online courses from overseas, according to the IIE snapshot survey which looked at over 700 U.S. colleges.
The data compiled by the IEE and the State Department found that the number of international students in the U.S. has been declining since 2016. During his presidency, Donald Trump has forwarded a number of policies implementing tougher immigration restrictions for international students, CNN reported.
The Trump administration also passed special scrutiny and restrictions for Chinese students, who make up 35% of international students in the U.S., the Chronicle reported.
The Chronicle also attributed the declining trend of international student enrollment to post-graduation work in the U.S. becoming less attractive. These factors mean that the decline in international enrollments may continue once COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted, the Chronicle reported.
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