Historically, the United States has been considered a bastion of higher education, and a destination for international students seeking to compete in the ‘global knowledge economy.’ Under the Trump Administration, however, the United State’s preeminent position as a supplier of higher education to the rest of the world hangs in the balance.
In this second installment of our series, Brain Drain, The Stark Choices & Exodus of Highly-Skilled Immigrants & Investors from the U.S. Due to Recent Immigration Policies, we will address how Trump’s hostility towards immigration has led foreign students to look elsewhere in pursuit of higher-educational opportunities. The outlook is alarming: the brain drain has begun.
While college enrollment from domestic students continues to climb, international student enrollment has waned. New student enrollments by international students in the United States fell by 6.6 percent in 2017/18, according to the Open Doors Report from the International Education Exchange. Now, more than ever, international students are seeking alternatives to Colleges and Universities in the United States. Canada, with their stable of reputable higher education institutions, and tolerant immigration policies, has become a promising alternative to international students.
Since President Donald Trump assumed office in 2017, international enrollments have increased markedly in Canada. The Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) reports that the number of international students rose 20% in 2017, 16% in 2018, and 16% in 2019. All told, this has amounted to an enormous influx of capital–both financial and educational–into Canadian institutions. Larissa Bezo, the President and CEO of CBIE, citing research done by her organization, contends that “international students choose Canada because of the quality of the Canadian education system and our reputation as a safe and tolerant country.” In a nod to the Trump Administration’s stringent and intolerant immigration policies, she states that this “reputation is especially appealing at present given current geopolitical realities.”
Students in the United States, as well, are coming to terms with the current geopolitical realities, and have begun to look to Canadian educational institutions as a respite from the policies of the Trump Administration. According to data reported by Canadian Universities, applications and web-traffic from the United States surged in the wake of the 2016 Presidential election. At the University of Toronto, applications from United States residents ballooned by 70%. At McGill University, one of the premier private universities in Canada, that number rose by 34%. When asked to cite a cause for this change, Jennifer Peterman, Senior Manager of International Recruitment at McGill University, is unequivocal: “We can’t ignore the [United States] election results.”
Without a doubt, the exodus has begun. But why does this matter? For one, international students who study in the United States contribute substantially to the United States economy. Notably, the large majority of these students pay for their own education. According to the Open Doors Report from the International Education Exchange, 83.5% of international students paid for their education out of pocket in 2019. Not only does this combat the false narrative that international students steal coveted grant and scholarship capital, it also demonstrates how a decrease in foreign enrollment may harm higher education institution’s bottom line.
Data released by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, shows that the more than one million international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities contributed $45 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 455,622 jobs during the 2018-2019 academic year. It should be noted that this is a nominal increase to the year prior. However, the rate of increase to the U.S. economy due to international student enrollment has declined, signaling a less prosperous future. This fact, coupled with the fact that the United State’s main competitors–namely Canada and Australia–have seen large increases in their international student enrollments, hint at a future where the amount contributed to the U.S. economy by international students may decrease.
These trends are alarming. Taken in full, they indicate a chronic devaluation of degrees from United States higher education institutions. Trump’s immigration policies–born of nativist sentiment, and actively endangering the livelihood of immigrants within the United States–have led international students to look elsewhere for a world class education. If these trends continue, it could spell disaster for higher education in the United States.