Combating Continued Drops in Foreign Student Enrollment –– U.S. Driven to Increase Appeal of Colleges and Universities

Declining foreign student enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities represents a worrisome trend for universities, employers, and policymakers. In the highly competitive international education market aimed at attracting foreign student enrollment, the U.S. gradually has been falling behind.

Nearly 2 million post-secondary students study outside of their respective native countries on an annual basis. Although the U.S. has long attracted more international students than the rest of the world, recently other countries (including the United Kingdom and Australia) have become increasingly popular destinations for higher education.1 International student tuition, fees and related costs represent nearly $13 billion in yearly revenue in the U.S., not to mention spending on textbooks, computer products, supplies and daily living expenses. The competition for attracting the international student market segment is growing.2 However, only about 3% of all students enrolled in U.S. higher education programs are foreign, while nearly 10% of Britain's post-secondary students are from other countries.3

According to a 2004 study conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools –– engineering, the leading field for international students in the U.S. –– faced the steepest decline in applications and admissions during 2004.4 The study also demonstrated a significantly diminished level of applications and admissions to U.S. post-secondary institutions from China, India and Korea during 2003-2004.5 In 2003, the U.S. share of Chinese students dropped from 81% in 2000 to 46% compared to the U.K. and Australia (the other leading Anglophone host countries). During that time, Chinese students choosing to go to the U.K. increased by more than 37,000 and more than 20,000 in Australia, while the U.S. saw an increase of fewer than 2,000.6

A year ago, California, the leading U.S. host state for international students, witnessed a 4% decrease in the number of international students while the nationwide drop was approximately 2.5%.7 The University of California at Berkeley saw the number of international graduate students slip to 425 in 2004-2005 compared to 469 in fall 2003.8 Pete Johnson, Director of International Admissions for the full-time MBA program at Berkeley's Haas School, reported to BusinessWeek that he intends to spend more time explaining that international viewpoints are respected in Haas classrooms.9 Johnson observed that “…in many countries, U.S. actions in Iraq have been very unpopular, and the information that has been in the media abroad about the issue has created the impression for some international students that the U.S. may not be a welcoming place to study, which is far from the truth.”10

Although international public opinion about the U.S. and President Bush hit a highpoint in the immediate aftermath of 9-11, the pendulum has swung further and further in the opposite direction ever since the U.S. launched attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq. Shortly after the U.S. began fighting in Iraq, the BBC hosted a poll of 11,000 people in 10 countries as well as in the U.S. to determine “What the World Thinks of America.”11 Noticeable contrasts in the poll results included the U.S. concept of world perspectives versus the actual perspectives of those polled from other countries. For example, while 88% of U.S. respondents observed favorable attitudes about Americans, the international opinion was far bleaker with approximately 10% of French respondents, 30% of Indonesian respondents, 45% of Brazilian respondents, and 60% of Jordanian respondents reporting negative feelings towards Americans. Even more international respondents reported unfavorable opinions about President Bush. Certainly, negative global perspectives about the U.S. –– such as those broadcast by BBC news –– are not positive indicators for international outreach officials in U.S. universities.12

Universities have been pointing to post-September 11 visa restrictions placed on student visas as a key factor that discourages international students from applying and/or being accepted to U.S. programs. In April 2005, Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, observed that many foreign students still view the U.S. to be an inhospitable place to study, despite recent improvements in the visa application process.13

Lost talent at the nation's academic institutions is not just a concern for colleges and universities. U.S. employers that rely on top tier foreign graduates of U.S. universities as a source of talent, ingenuity and diversity have expressed concerns including Bill Gates who, at an April 2005 forum at the Library of Congress, observed that Microsoft may be shifting more work overseas as a result of fewer foreigners studying and staying in the U.S.14

The declining international student market segment and related impacts on higher education, industry and the economy have not gone unnoticed in Washington. Senator Lugar, has championed an effort to increase awareness of problems posed by the continually decreasing number of foreign students in U.S. universities.

It is critical that the U.S. reexamine factors that attract international students. A 2004 study of international students by the British Council ranked deciding factors in the following order: quality of courses, employability prospects, affordability, personal security issues, lifestyle and accessibility.15 As other nations aggressively market and promote innovative measures such as foreign offices and partnerships with universities and companies abroad, more U.S. universities need to follow suit.

There are U.S. universities at the forefront of the marketing and collaborative arena –– for example, the University of Chicago's Graduate School of business that offers an Executive MBA in Barcelona and Singapore. University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School has worked with Kellogg at Northwestern to develop business schools in Bangkok and India, and MIT boasts global accessibility through its free online publication of MIT course materials (http://ocw.mit.edu).16 This global thinking represents only a fraction of efforts by these schools and many other U.S. institutions.

Still, despite countless global initiatives on the part of American academic institutions, the percentage of international students in the U.S. remains small compared to several other nations and declining numbers of applicants and admitted students suggests greater problems to come. For universities to stay competitive, strategic plans with specific global goals need to be established. Creating the image and reality of a “foreign friendly” U.S. is vital not only to U.S. colleges and universities but also to the country as a whole in order to grow and prosper in today's international environment.

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