International Students in the United States: 2020

International Students in the United States

International students have experienced tough times in the last few years.  And this last year was especially tough.

According to the Migration Policy Institute report, for the first time in a decade, there were fewer international students in the United States during the 2019-20 school year than the year before. This decline has been aggravated further by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to an additional 16 percent decrease in international students at the start of the fall 2020 academic semester.

The introduction reads as follows:

"The United States has long been the top receiving country for international students, who historically have been drawn by the high quality of U.S. higher education, its value on the international labor market, and access to job opportunities in the United States after graduation. About 1.1 million international students were enrolled in U.S. institutions in school year (SY) 2019-20. This marked a decrease of almost 20,000 international students from the year before, following a decade of consistent growth. Among the key factors for this decline were the rising cost of U.S. higher education, high numbers of student visa delays and denials, a difficult political environment for immigrants under the Trump administration, and expanded opportunities to study in other countries."

KJ