By David L. Di Maria, associate vice provost, International Education, UMBC

Over the past four years, the Trump administration made it increasingly difficult for students from other countries to study in the United States.

In 2017, the number of new international students enrolled at American colleges and universities – that is, those just coming to the U.S. for the first time – declined for the first year on record. Restrictive immigration policies, frayed relations with foreign nations and travel bans all contributed to further drops in new enrollment over each of the following years of Trump’s presidency.

President Joe Biden’s election signals a new day for international education. This is evident based on a slew of Biden’s executive orders, many of which revoked immigration and travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration. Additionally, Biden sent a bill to Congress aimed at reforming the nation’s immigration system.

As a university administrator who specializes in international education, I foresee five major ways the United States may once again become the top choice for students from around the world during the Biden administration.

1. Reform of the immigration system

In 2019, the total number of enrolled international students – that is, newly-arrived students as well as those already studying in the U.S. – dropped for the first time since 2005. And the economic impact of international students decreased by US$1.8 billion.

While the declining number of international students wreaked havoc on U.S. colleges and universities, as well as the communities in which they are based, there is renewed optimism that things will change.

That’s because the Biden administration has expressed a commitment to modernizing the nation’s immigration system in ways that respond to economic needs and prevent the U.S. from losing talent to other nations. This includes making it easier for international students who are working on advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – or STEM – to stay and work after graduation.

How much Biden can actually reform the immigration system remains to be seen. But international applications to U.S. colleges for this fall are already up 9% compared to a year ago. This suggests a renewed interest in the U.S. as a study destination. It also serves as a hopeful sign that international enrollment will soon rebound, presuming Biden’s handling of the pandemic instills more confidence abroad than that of his predecessor.

2. Elimination of discriminatory bans

On his first day in office, Biden revoked the Trump administration’s so-called Muslim ban and other discriminatory restrictions on travel and entry in favor of strengthening information-sharing relationships with foreign governments.

Biden’s executive orders will increase STEM field diversity by bringing in more international students to the U.S. Prostock-Studio via iStock/Getty Images Plus

While many of the country-specific restrictions did not directly affect people with student visas, the policy had a broad cooling effect. Consider the sharp decline in student visas issued to applicants from countries included in the bans. For instance, student visas issued to Iranian nationals fell by 59%, from 3,139 in 2016 to 1,970 in 2019.

Biden’s approach to national security aims to keep would-be threats from entering the U.S. while allowing for citizen diplomacy efforts, such as student exchange programs, to resume. This tactic will ultimately increase the diversity of nations represented on college campuses. Such diversity enhances learning opportunities for all.

3. Protections for Dreamers

Undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children – often known as Dreamers – faced an uncertain future under Trump. The Trump administration refused to accept new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – which extends certain protections to Dreamers – that was established under the Obama administration. And this occurred even after the program was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Biden issued a memorandum aimed at preserving and fortifying DACA the same day he was sworn in. While further actions are needed to achieve these goals, the memorandum should provide the country’s more than 200,000 DACA-eligible college students with the hope that a pathway to citizenship is not far off.

4. Options for graduates to stay

Even before he was elected, former President Donald Trump regularly claimed that immigrants were taking jobs away from American workers. This is a notion largely disproved by economists, disputed by employers and rejected by 64% of the general population.

In sharp contrast to his predecessor, Biden has proposed making it easier for international students with advanced degrees in STEM fields to receive work visas and apply for permanent residency. If successful, Biden would enable the U.S. to retain a greater number of STEM workers who are critical for continued economic growth. Just consider that nearly 25% of billion-dollar startup companies had a founder who first arrived to the U.S. as an international student.

STEM products and services are the focus of many of these companies, which create an average of 1,200 new jobs each.

5. Boost for global science

According to a recent survey, the top recommendation that researchers around the world have for the Biden administration is to expand scientific collaborations between the U.S. and other countries.

The exchange of ideas between students and scholars from different parts of the world is important for advancing knowledge and addressing global threats that range from climate change to COVID-19. However, research indicates that two of the most significant barriers to international collaboration are a lack of funding and restrictions on sharing data.

Biden’s decisions to elevate the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology to a Cabinet-level position, rejoin the Paris climate accord and reverse the previous administration’s move to depart from the World Health Organization all indicate that science will inform future policy decisions. This could help address current barriers to international collaboration.

Biden’s commitments to “lead with science and truth” and attract top global talent to the U.S. not only bode well for U.S. colleges, universities and companies but also hold the promise of reclaiming lost ground by restoring U.S. leadership in science and technology.

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David L. Di Maria, Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Header image: President Biden’s rollbacks on former President Trump’s travel restrictions signal new opportunities for international students. Brothers91/E+ via Getty Images Plus

By David L. Di Maria, associate vice provost for international education UMBC

For the fourth year in a row, the number of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities has declined. This is according to data released this month by the State Department and the Institute of International Education.

The fact that the decline largely took place during Donald Trump’s presidency is no mere coincidence. The Trump administration has tightened restrictions on who can study here and has also sent signals that students from abroad are not welcome.

As the Trump administration comes to an end, the new international enrollment data serve as sort of a failing grade for an administration that claimed international education would be a top priority. The Trump administration also made commitments to increase the number of international students in the U.S. and boasted of having spent more on recruiting international students than any other administration in history.

Important as it is to have global perspectives at American colleges and universities, the steady decline in international enrollment is about more than that. As a specialist in international education, I know that the continued decrease in students from abroad will negatively affect U.S. students and the American economy.

Still over 1 million

There are currently just over one 1 million international students studying in the U.S. This has been the case since 2015. This current figure includes 851,957 students enrolled at higher education institutions and 223,539 people engaged in Optional Practical Training, a program that allows recent international graduates to remain in the U.S. temporarily to obtain work or volunteer experience related to their major, according to data I analyzed from the Institute of International Education.

The Optional Practical Training is important to consider when you examine trends in international enrollment in the era of Trump. The reason is that the true impact of the Trump administration on international enrollment is masked by Obama-era policies that permitted more international students to remain in the U.S. for longer periods through the Optional Practical Training program.

As these people complete their training programs, the total number of international students will likely once again dip below the 1 million mark.

Where they are from

While the students came from more than 220 countries and territories, China and India accounted for 53% of the total, the data show.

About one-third of international students – 34.8% – enrolled in graduate-level coursework. The next-biggest group was those enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs – 33.1%. Associate degree and non-degree studies accounted for 5.9% and 5.4%, respectively, of international student enrollment in the U.S. The remaining 20.8% were participating in Optional Practical Training.

Just over half of all students from abroad – 52% – pursued majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

How they pay for school

At the undergraduate level, 83.9% of international students rely on personal and family income to pay for their education in the U.S.

Five percent rely on a foreign government or university, and 0.4% rely on a foreign private sponsor. In all, 89.3% are pumping money from abroad into the U.S. economy, while the remaining 10.7% rely primarily on funding from a U.S. source. At the graduate level, 60.7% of international students rely primarily on international funds, since 36.5% received funding from their college in the U.S. These graduate students usually get this funding in exchange for helping faculty with grant-funded research projects or helping teach undergraduate courses in their discipline. The remaining 2.8% received funding from other U.S. sources.

Most of the money spent by international students – 55% – is spent within the higher education sector. This in turn helps colleges support high-tech academic programs. It also helps keep tuition lower for students from the U.S.

But a drop in international students doesn’t hurt just colleges’ bottom lines – it harms local economies as well.

When you subtract all funding from U.S. sources, one analysis found, international students still contributed US$38.7 billion to the U.S. economy in 2019. These dollars supported 415,996 American jobs, based on an economic analysis.

Also, consider that 18% of every dollar spent by international students goes to apartment rentals and other forms of accommodation; 11% goes to restaurants, 9% to retail and the rest to other sectors of the economy.

No matter how you slice the data, the fact remains that international students make positive contributions to the U.S. economy. In fact, 1 in 4 $1 billion startup companies in the U.S. had a founder who first arrived on a student visa.

Looking forward

Many international students have reacted positively to the victory of President-elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Nevertheless, I believe it will take years to reverse the trend of declining international enrollment that intensified under Trump.

It is true that there was a decline during the last year of the Obama administration, but that was mostly due to the fact that the Brazilian and Saudi governments curtailed major study-abroad scholarship programs for their citizens. This resulted in a drop of 10,586 in Brazilian students and 8,670 fewer Saudi students between 2014 and 2016. The situation got worse as the U.S. came to be seen by international students as an unwelcoming nation under Trump.

After the pandemic

The Institute of International Education also partnered with nine other higher education associations to assess international student enrollment amid the COVID-19 crisis. The most alarming facts from the survey are a 43% drop in new international student enrollment and a 16% reduction in total international enrollment in the fall of 2020. The study also found that 1 in 5 international students are reportedly studying online from abroad, and roughly 40,000 international students have chosen to defer their enrollment to a future term.

All said, the findings reflect a lot of uncertainty for the future of U.S. colleges, which were already – before the COVID-19 pandemic began – anticipating that overall enrollment will drop by more than 15% after the year 2025 because of record-low birthrates in the U.S. that began in 2008 and continue to this day.

Some experts attribute this decline in the birthrate to the 2008 financial crisis. People may simply have delayed having children or had fewer children because of that era’s economic hardships. And 17 years later, in 2025, there are bound to be fewer students and more empty seats in college classrooms.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to be three times worse than the 2008 financial crisis. Consequently, colleges could experience another major decrease in overall enrollment caused by similar demographic changes by 2037. Success in recruiting students from abroad will be key to offsetting these declines.

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David L. Di Maria, Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Header image: Two students walk on campus in Fall 2020. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

By David L. Di Maria, associate vice provost, International Education, UMBC

In an effort to crack down on international students and scholars who overstay their visas, the Trump administration is seeking to implement a new set of rules that would make it more difficult for them to remain in the U.S.

Among other things, the proposed rules would require students and scholars from certain countries to leave within either two or four years. This would be irrespective of whether or not they’ve completed their degrees and research. Only those who could prove a “compelling” reason to stay longer would be allowed to do so.

But the rule, which has already drawn more than 20,000 comments from the public, comes with a steep price tag. It would also undermine America’s interest in attracting talent from abroad and, ironically, it would do little to actually curtail the problem of visa overstays that it purports to solve. That is my analysis as a higher education administrator who specializes in international education.

Time limits

The Department of Homeland Security’s proposed tighter restrictions are outlined in a 256-page document.

Which of the two new proposed maximum time limits – two or four years – would apply would depend on various criteria. Currently, these students and scholars are admitted for “duration of status,” which means they may stay for as long as their academic endeavors require, as long as they follow the terms of their visa.

Things that would subject a student or scholar to a two-year cap include being from certain countries, pursuing particular courses of study and whether or not their university fully participates in E-Verify, a web-based federal document verification system.

There are other changes as well.

For instance, students will have 30 days – half the time currently allotted – to leave the country after completing their academic program. Any petitions for extensions of stay would need to be approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Certain activities, such as participating in off-campus internships, would be prohibited while this paperwork was pending.

This new process also would require students and scholars to pay US$455 in new filing fees.

Enough time?

Federal data show it takes four years and four months, on average, to complete a bachelor’s degree. In fact, only 44% of first-time, full-time students attending a four-year institution in 2012 completed a bachelor’s degree within four years. For international students, 52% graduate within four years. That means nearly half of all international students take more than four years to finish college.

There are many reasons students often require more than four years to graduate. Those reasons could range from pursuing more than one major to being involved in extracurricular activities or having family obligations.

For graduate students, it could be that the research they are doing has been delayed for some reason. In fact, the National Science Foundation reports that it takes an average of five years and 10 months to complete a doctorate.

The uncertainty over whether or not a degree could be completed within the time limits set by the proposed rule would further weaken the ability of the U.S. to attract global academic talent.

Visa overstays by the numbers

The proposed rule builds upon the Trump administration’s more than 400 attempts to reshape the U.S. immigration system through executive actions.

While a key argument used to justify the proposed changes is that people who overstay visas may endanger national security, the government estimates that just 1.52% of all international students and exchange visitors overstay. The actual rate may be even lower given that the government overestimates overstays because of a lack of capacity to properly record departures.

Close tabs

International students and scholars are very closely tracked by their colleges and universities. While the proposed rule would add additional caseloads to an already overwhelmed government agency and a paper-based immigration system that the Department of Homeland Security itself describes as “outdated,” it may do little to prevent overstays. On the contrary, I believe the new rule may force some students to make the impossible choice between committing an overstay and abandoning their educational dream.

In June, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it faced a $1.2 billion shortfall. Over the next decade, DHS estimates the cost to implement the new rule will be as high as $2 billion. While filing fees for extension requests will help USCIS increase revenue, research shows that estimates for costs of compliance with a new regulation are often incomplete.

DHS predicts the higher education sector will lose $93 million during the first year of the rule and roughly $30 million each year thereafter because of staff time spent on training, implementation and supporting petitions for longer stays.

Other federal and state agencies, such as divisions of motor vehicles, as well as employers needing to reverify employment eligibility on a more regular basis, will face similar burdens.

In the end, I believe the economy will lose billions should the new restrictions further accelerate the decline in international enrollment.

Implications for U.S. competitiveness

Global competition in science and technology is increasing.

Consider the rise of other nations in critical areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and synthetic biology.

This has serious implications for economic and national security. Specifically, the most scientifically and technologically advanced nations tend to dominate global market share in innovative industries, as measured by leading companies, exports and foreign direct investments. They also have the most advanced military capabilities, ranging from autonomous unmanned vehicles to hypersonic and directed-energy weapons.

Additionally, some nations are using the current political climate to lure foreign talent away from the U.S.

The role of international students

International students play a critical role in helping the nation excel in science and technology.

Their enrollment helps universities continue to offer STEM majors and graduate programs. These majors and programs benefit U.S. students and employers.

Consider that 1 in 3 people with science and engineering jobs in the U.S. were born in another country. This includes more than half of all biomedical researchers and nearly a quarter of pharmaceutical manufacturing industry employees.

While many international students leave the country after earning their degree, those who choose to stay provide a source of high-skilled talent that ensures our country remains globally competitive in science and technology.

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David L. Di Maria, Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Header image: The proposed policy mainly targets students from the Middle East and African nations. Brothers91/E+ via Getty Images Plus

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

By David L. Di Maria, Associate Vice Provost for International Education, UMBC

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, made a decision on July 6 regarding international students in the U.S. that will affect far more than just the roughly 870,000 international students themselves.

Based on what I know about the power and influence of higher education in the U.S., this decision could increase the tuition American students pay, cost thousands of jobs throughout the nation and erode America’s stature in the world.

Under this new rule, international students may stay in the country only if they attend a college or university offering in-person classes this fall. Otherwise, they won’t be able to get visas, enter the country or stay here if they plan to attend one of the many schools that are teaching students entirely online.

In effect, thousands of students from other countries who attend schools that do not plan any in-person instruction this fall may have to immediately transfer to another school or leave the country. Otherwise, they could face deportation.

Against the backdrop of what top U.S. public health officials describe as an out-of-control virus, this new immigration rule puts U.S. colleges in a jam. Schools must choose between bringing students together on campus to comply with the immigration restrictions, or adhere to public health precautions related to physical distancing.

It may be hard to do both if the online option is off the table when it comes to international students. Which means U.S. colleges and universities could take a significant financial hit in the form of lost tuition revenue beyond what they were anticipating as a result of COVID-19.

Colleges must scramble

As of July 6, more than 1,000 colleges and universities have already released plans for fall instruction. Of those, 60% plan currently plan to offer in-person classes, 24% plan to offer hybrid and 9% plan to offer courses online. The remaining colleges are still undecided.

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Now, some institutions will have to scramble to develop alternatives that can enable international students to remain enrolled without breaking the new rule. Schools must report how they plan to proceed by Aug. 1, based on the ICE announcement.

Far-reaching impact

The impact of this rule is not just limited to the hundreds of thousands of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges, who represent 4.39% of the 20 million people who currently attend U.S. colleges and universities. It also affects their institutions, their faculty and the local communities as well.

Consider that colleges and universities, which are the largest employers in 1 in 5 states, are already reeling from heavy financial losses associated with the pandemic.

While many schools have had to slash budgets due to refunds issued to students in the spring of 2020, disruptions to research, canceled athletic events and cuts to state funding, others are still waiting to see whether or not they will meet their enrollment targets for fall.

Still, more than 200 colleges and universities have already announced layoffs, furloughs or contract nonrenewals.

At a time when the U.S. is trying to overcome record unemployment and manage its biggest public health crisis in a century, international students seem to be caught in the middle of a partisan divide on reopening the country.

The new guidelines could place many colleges and universities in an impossible position: Increase the number of in-person classes and risk that COVID-19 will spread further.

What they bring to the table

Given how much international students contribute to the economy, you might assume ICE would find a way to keep them in the U.S.

The students affected by the new rule are the same people who help support about 460,000 American jobs.

The higher tuition and fees they pay helps keep tuition lower for American students. But their contributions transcend economics.

Their academic talents help advance scientific discoveries, which are more critical than ever given the nation’s ongoing battle against COVID-19. The fallout will be severe should these students choose to study in other countries instead. Australia and New Zealand, for example, have recently made their policies more welcoming.

Giving ground to other nations

Booting international students would surely reduce America’s influence in the world as well.

According to the State Department, the alumni of educational and cultural exchange programs include more than 75 Nobel Laureates and nearly 450 current and former heads of state and government. Having established personal ties, international students often return home as unofficial ambassadors for the U.S.

International alumni are more likely to look to the U.S. for ideas and trade agreements and to otherwise exert influence abroad that benefits U.S. interests.

While the share of international students studying in the U.S. has steadily declined – from 28% of the world’s 2.1 million international students in 2001 to 21% of the world’s 5.3 million international students in 2019 – other countries have made significant gains in attracting global talent due to national strategies.

Most notably, China now hosts nearly 1 in 10 students who study abroad globally, including more students from Africa than the U.K. and U.S. combined. One reason for China’s rise as a study destination is its leaders’ realization that it is lagging behind the U.S. in terms of soft power with only a few world leaders having graduated from Chinese institutions.

In my view, ICE’s new guidance is only the latest step in a steady retreat from global engagement that clears the path for other nations to attract more of the students that might otherwise study in the United States.

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David L. Di Maria, Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Header image: Boston Globe/Getty Images

Paul Raphael ’83, economics, posed this question to a group of students who gathered in the Fireside Lounge to mingle with the executive vice-chairman of the Swiss bank, UBS.

When Paul Raphael arrived at BWI airport in July 1981—a month and a half before his first semester started—he was fleeing the Lebanese civil war. And although he had arranged with UMBC to arrive early to escape the fighting in his country, he didn’t know what his next step was going to be after getting off the plane. He introduced himself to his seatmate to explain his predicament, and she quickly put his fears to rest. She and her husband were professors at UMBC and would deliver him to the campus on their way home. They ended up waiting with him until he was settled into his dorm room.

Although Raphael doesn’t remember their names, to this day he remembers their hospitality. Their kindness, along with the support of longtime international student advocate Bobbie Shahpazian, who retired as the Associate Director of Scholarships in 2012, shaped the way Raphael thought about his education. “I remember knowing that I couldn’t go back to Lebanon because of the war,” says Raphael to the students circled around him. “I had no choice but to be successful here…and you have more chances if you’re really trying.”

Raphael quickly began planning out the rest of his life’s steps that would ultimately lead him to his position as an executive in the financial industry.

“If I really want to stay in this country I would have to do two or three things,” Raphael remembers thinking early on in his studies. “One, distinguish myself in every possible way, including academically. Two, get a master’s degree, so I am are even further distinguished. And three,” Raphael recounts, “get some work experience. So, together that was kind of my plan.”

Speaking to a predominately international group of students, the investment banker recognizes that the American political situation has changed since he was welcomed to campus three decades ago, but encourages the same work ethic he embraced decades ago: hustle. Learn another language (or two) to make yourself more competitive, take an extra class over summer break, write handwritten thank you notes after every internship, keep an on campus job (or two), connect with your professors outside of class.

Raphael’s plan to distinguish himself led him to successfully graduating in two-and-a-half years, accomplishing an MBA at MIT, and then on to a long career in investment banking. But how did he get to where it all started?

In Lebanon as a high school student, Raphael had limited information about colleges in the United States, but he knew he didn’t want to attend a large campus. From the applications available at an educational resource office connected to the American Embassy in Beirut, Raphael heard about a young college outside of Baltimore. “When I arrived I actually liked UMBC. It was, yes, small but new and nurturing… I didn’t find it as I had feared, you know, really difficult. I have to say, it was a very formative time for me.”

In the roundtable discussion with the students gathered, Raphael turns the questions back on them. Was UMBC your first choice? What is the atmosphere like for international students now? The students respond eagerly and tell Raphael about the dozens of student groups that exist to celebrate different cultural heritages on campus, and that there are now over 1,000 international students studying at UMBC from over 100 counties.

“What I am hearing,” sums up Raphael, “is that once you are here you feel—and it certainly was the case with me—the possibilities are all there to do what you want and to go where you want and to, and that’s not a given elsewhere.”

“I arrived here in 1981, and I feel like I’m a different person now,” Raphael concludes. “So coming back here almost puts me in touch with someone else, someone that’s … buried somewhere inside me. But these are layers, you know, so unless I had the UMBC layer I wouldn’t have the next layer. So this is still very important to me.”

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Header image courtesy of Raquel Hamner ’20.