Among 600 US higher education institutions, 88 percent anticipate that international student enrollment will decrease in 2020-21, with 30 percent predicting a substantial decline. These results come from the second in a series of surveys from the Institute of International Education (IIE) analyzing the effects of COVID-19 on US campuses.
Since March when IIE released its first survey—focused on mobility to and from China where the virus originated—COVID-19 has infected more than 3.2 million people globally with more than a million cases in the US. The current report focuses on international mobility more globally, with specific attention to actions US institutions took in spring 2020 and plan to take for summer and fall 2020.
Travel to and from China — the largest source of international students globally — has been heavily restricted since January as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19). To better understand the impact the virus has had on the recruitment efforts of US universities, the Institute of International Education (IIE) conducted a survey on academic student mobility to and from China.
The findings from the survey—Academic Student Mobility to and from China— show that the majority (76 percent) of institutions’ outreach and recruitment efforts to prospective students in China had been affected. Specifically, more than half (51 percent) of responding institutions had cancelled recruitment activities in China.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has sought to limit access to the US by individuals from certain countries through travel bans instituted by executive order. On Friday, the Trump administration issued a presidential proclamation that expanded the existing ban to include six additional countries.
Effective Feb. 21, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar (Burma), Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania will join seven other countries already facing travel restrictions.
