Approximately 40 percent of US colleges predict a decline in international students for the Fall 2017 term, reports The Economic Times.
Many of these missing applications are from Middle East and Muslim countries. There are also fewer students applying from India and China, which together produce half of the international students in the US, according to The Wire.
President Donald Trump’s travel ban and anti-immigration stances have been cited as the primary reasons for this decline.
Although Ranjit Lal, a student from India, originally planned to pursue education in the US, he chose to make other arrangements after assessing current American policies towards international people.
“I chose Canada over the US because with Donald Trump in the White House there are too many uncertainties about US immigration policies,” said Lal. “I want to do my Master’s in engineering in McGill. Canada is an immigrant-friendly country. That’s what is most important to me.”
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Obtaining an H-1B visa to work in the US after graduating is a major concern for many after Trump’s recent policy changes. Even employees at big name corporations such as Google are being denied work visas.
Moreover, students fear for their safety. Since Trump’s election, the Southern Poverty Law Center has logged 900 hate crimes, a record breaking number. Many of these crimes are taking place on college campuses.
Ironically, US colleges depend on the money generated by international students, who contributed $36 billion to the US economy last year. Oftentimes, tuition for international students is substantially higher than for domestic students. This helps to counterbalance cuts in state funding and subsidizes tuition costs for domestic students.
International student recruiters are trying to assure applicants that many areas in the US are still safe and welcoming.
“Since November last year several campuses have been running the #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign as an outreach to global students to not just make them feel at home but also assure them that there are communities here dedicated to them,” said Alfred Boll, branch chief of EducationUSA.
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