Aftermath of the attacks
American universities have effortlessly attracted the world’s brightest students for years, but a feeling of uncertainty is rising, as international student enrollment declines throughout the nation.
International student enrollment declined by 2.4 percent in 2003-2004, according to the latest data by the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors Report 2004.
While there were about 500,000 international students entering the United States in 2003-2004, it was the first decrease in six years and is the first absolute decline in international student enrollment since three decades ago. The number of graduate students increased by 2.5 percent from the previous years, but undergraduate student enrollment declined by 5 percent.
“Where we used to have a very steady and increasing flow of students into the United States, that flow has plateaued and has almost started to decline,” says Charles Nieman, the director of International Student and Scholar Services at Kent State.
Many experts blame the decline on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as security concerns pressed Homeland Security and other agencies to delay issuing student visas and enforce monitoring procedures once international students arrive in the United States.
“The events of Sept. 11 and the aftermath of those tragic events have brought the United States into a deep concern of safeguarding its own citizens,” Nieman says. The Transportation Security Agency, Homeland Security and other agencies are working hard to not only protect the borders but also to protect the citizens. “In many respects, this has made it more difficult for more people outside of the United States to come here,” he says.
“Our government is just not issuing visas to prospective students.”
Ted McKown II, assistant director of admissions for international recruitment at Kent State, says the decline is mainly due to restrictions the government has imposed on international students. “Our government is just not issuing visas to prospective students,” McKown says. “They’re limiting the type of student that can come into the country.”
New visa regulations include security checks and the entry of student information into a national database. Prospective students may be required to complete face-to-face interviews with consulate officers. Students who do obtain visas risk losing them or having to renew them after going home for vacations.
“Consulate officers don’t want to be responsible for issuing a visa to a future terrorist,” says Deb Lyons, immigration assistant of International Student and Scholar Services at Kent State. “So they are being more cautious now and are sending more people into the second level of security check.”
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, known as SEVIS, was implemented to track international students through an Internet-based system. SEVIS, which was in the works prior to Sept. 11 and imposed quickly after, is used by schools to collect and record information about individuals who are issued F1 student visas, J1 exchange visitor student visas or M1 vocational/non-academic studies students.
Italian graduate student Gabrielle Mazza.
SEVIS is a computer system every international student is aware of. “Immigration services can always find you and can know where you’re at,” Junelov says. “They can keep track of you.”
Many international students are choosing to attend college in countries where visa regulations are less strict. The universities of Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Hong Kong are all undertaking aggressive recruitment campaigns, and China is promoting the transformation of universities into global research institutions as a national priority.
The decline of international student enrollment threatens America’s reputation of world leader in areas including business management and science. Decreasing enrollment also affects the U.S. economy, which benefits from the $13 billion contributed yearly by international students from their tuition, living expenses and related costs, according to the Department of Commerce.
Other countries have caught on to the fact that education is a big industry, and they are attracting students with diversity and economics, says Adam Meier, a spokesperson for the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “It’s expensive to enroll in American universities, and those costs continue to rise, which may have an impact on students’ ability to come here and study.”
The decrease in enrollment may also be caused by perceptions international students have of Americans being unwelcoming — allegations Meier says he finds to be clearly false.
“We are, in fact, welcoming foreign students,” Meier says. “We want foreign students to come here. It shows in the 500,000 students we have enrolling this year. People want to study here, and we want them to continue to study here.”
Doctoral candidate Deborah Campbell from the Bahamas.
International students Junelov, Mazza and Campbell continued with their American educations, despite mixed feelings about the effects of Sept. 11.
“I used to feel before Sept. 11 that the United States was the safest place you wanted to live in,” Campbell says. “It’s very hard when you have a particular impression about something, and then it changes so quickly.”
Seeing the country unite so soon after the attacks was impressive, Junelov says. “It was just awesome to see people get together and fight against terrorism and join their forces together for a good cause,” he says. “I just saw how this nation came together.”
Mazza says the events of Sept. 11 actually made her feel safer because it forced the country to tighten security. The safety concerns of both American and foreign students have been addressed, she says.
Meier says, “In the phrase that Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice keep saying, ‘Secure borders, but open doors.’ Those are the two equally important priorities that citizens and foreign students are safe, as we continue to bring people in.”
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