IT’S NOT YOU, IT’S ME

Study: Fewer Foreign Students Are Coming to the U.S. for College

Experts cited increasingly uncertain social and political climate in the United States.

Fewer foreign students are coming to study at higher-education institutions in the United States, The New York Times reports. The study presents numbers for the first time since President Trump was elected in November 2016. Experts working to explain the average 7 percent drop in international students in fall 2017 cited the increasingly uncertain social and political climate in the U.S. In a survey of 500 campuses, 45 percent reported drops in new international enrollment. “It’s a mix of factors,” said Rajika Bhandari, head of research for the Institute of International Education. “Concerns around the travel ban had a lot to do with concerns around personal safety based on a few incidents involving international students, and a generalized concern about whether they’re safe.”