Addressing challenges in international student enrollment, the US for Success Coalition, with NAFSA as one of its founding members, advocates for inclusivity and government partnerships to foster a more welcoming environment for students in America.
Addressing challenges in international student enrollment, the US for Success Coalition, with NAFSA as one of its founding members, advocates for inclusivity and government partnerships to foster a more welcoming environment for students in America.
Despite the glowing numbers in the recent Institute of International Education (IIE) and Open Doors 2023 reports, the United States needs to exert more efforts in bringing in more international students, according to the group NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
NAFSA Executive Director and CEO Fanta Aw, PhD, said looking at the two reports would show that the increase in international student enrollment in the US has been driven by enrollees in graduate, not undergraduate, programs.
“We do not make it easy for international students to bring their talents here, and we see that reflected in Open Doors and IIE’s Fall 2023 Snapshot Survey,” she said.
In the Open Doors report, international graduate enrollments increased by 21 percent, while undergraduate enrollments wery stagnant at a one percent increase.
On the other hand, the IIE Fall 2023 Snapshot Survey showed that new enrollments in 2023-2024 only rose by two percent and that 30 percent of US institutions reported a decrease in the number of new enrollments compared to Fall 2022.
Aw added that the post-pandemic bump caused by pent-up demand is beginning to fade.
Warning that the US “cannot rest on its laurels” as international students’ contributions to all aspects of American society “are too important,” Aw highlighted the formation of the US for Success Coalition (USSC), where NAFSA is among the 11 founding member organizations speaking “with one voice around shared priorities.”
Among the identified goals of the coalition is achieving diversification in terms of country and region of origin, expanding the geographic destinations for students within the US, and supporting student success at a broader range of institutions, including community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities. These, Aw said, are long-held priorities at NAFSA.
She added that the USSC is also bent on developing more government partnerships, including working with the US Department of State to find solutions for the visa denial rate disproportionately affecting students from the Global South.
Aw, who came from a three-decade career at American University as an education administrator, also identified a national strategy for international education as a long-term advocacy at NAFSA, connecting with the White House and federal agencies in favor of its creation.
“We have made inroads. That’s evident in the language of the US Departments of State and Education’s Joint Statement of Principles and the US Department of Commerce’s 2023 National Export Strategy, which includes international education for the first time,” she said.
Committing to building on such foundations, Aw also urged Congress to pass legislative provisions that would expand dual intent and create a pathway to a green card for international student graduates, not just STEM majors.
“We will also be working closely with higher education institutions to define best practices for assuring student success at every step of the student’s journey and advocating for students on campus and with Congress,” Aw said.
International students contribute $40 billion to the US economy and support more than 368,000 jobs, according to data from NAFSA and IIE. The geographic distribution of these students, with states like California, New York, and Texas hosting the largest numbers, also points to regional economic benefits.
“Consider that one-quarter of the founders of the $1 billion U.S. startup companies first came to the US as international students and immigrants have been awarded 40 percent of the Nobel prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine, and physics since 2000,” noted Aw.
In Open Doors, India also emerged as a key contributor, sending 268,923 students to the US during the past academic year, marking an all-time high and a 35 percent increase from the prior year. A separate report, titled “Beyond Beds & Boundaries: Indian Student Mobility Report, 2023,″ anticipated that Indian students will contribute an estimated $70 billion to overseas education by 2025.
Yet the US faces tight competition as a destination for international students.
Some 6,000 H-1B visa holders laid off by their US employers, for instance, are now moving to Canada, taking advantage of a work permit scheme introduced earlier this year. The Canadian government initiated a three-year open work permit program on July 16, targeting up to 10,000 H-1B visa holders in the US and offering them employment opportunities.
