Hillary Clinton was the obvious choice for the Democratic Party before it began nominating its candidate for president.

In the days before Tuesday's election, a wide range of national polls gave her a slight edge over Donald Trump. She had the type of political experience that historically has been a path to the White House.

When voters had their chance to have their say at the polls, Clinton lost in her bid to become the first woman elected president of the United States.

Supporters watch the election results during Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's election night rally in the Jacob Javits Center glass enclosed lobby in New York, Nov. 8, 2016.

Clinton's campaign chief John Podesta told supporters at her rally in New York City to go home at 2 a.m. Wednesday, before the race had been officially called, saying votes were still being counted and that there would be more to say later in the day.

'So proud of you'

"I want every person in this hall to know and every person across the country who supported Hillary to know that your voices and your enthusiasm mean so much to her and to [running mate Tim Kaine] and to all of us. We are so proud of you and we are so proud of her," Podesta said.

Clinton was not there.

The rally was at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, a venue that featured the imagery of its vast glass ceiling and what a Clinton win would symbolize.

Clinton supporters went from jubilant Tuesday evening after the playing of the national anthem to slowly accepting the reality of what was happening as the night went on.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and her husband former President Bill Clinton, greet supporters after voting in Chappaqua, N.Y., Nov. 8, 2016.

VOA's Ramon Taylor said there were glimmers of hope from the crowd during the night, such as when the state of Virginia was called for Clinton, but that those died out quickly, even as the thumping, upbeat soundtrack of Katy Perry and Bruno Mars played on.

After midnight, with the math for a possible Clinton win looking more and more difficult, some people started filing out and none were in the mood to talk to reporters.

'I'm with her!'

A similar scene unfolded at a bar in Philadelphia, where Clinton supporters chanted "I'm with her!" early on and became silent as more and more states went to Trump.

VOA's Katherine Gypson said the crowd appeared stunned as the restaurant closed for the night.

Clinton's campaign massively outspent Trump's and had a big advantage when it came to workers and volunteers mobilized to convince voters in states across the country, both of which helped fuel the predictions that she would defeat Trump.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton hugs her husband, former President Bill Clinton as their daughter Chelsea Clinton looks on during a campaign rally in Raleigh, N.C., Nov. 8, 2016.

But Clinton also dealt with widespread unpopularity among voters, with polls showing that a majority did not find her trustworthy. Questions about her use of a private email system when she was secretary of state never went away, persisting in debates, Trump's rallies and media reports through the final week of campaigning.

Couldn't dispel concerns

Irfan Nooruddin, a professor of politics at Georgetown University, said Clinton and her team tried to dispel those concerns, but ultimately could not.

"I think what we've seen tonight is that for a lot of voters, that baggage of Clinton was just too much to overcome," Nooruddin told VOA.

He said animosity toward Clinton pushed white, rural voters to vote in ways unseen before, and that she was less successful than she had hoped in carrying the young people and African Americans who helped elect President Barack Obama.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Nov. 7, 2016, the final day of campaigning before the election.

Clinton served as secretary of state during Obama's first term, and Republicans, including Trump, often portrayed her candidacy as a run for a third term of the Obama administration.

David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University, said the 2016 vote reminded him of the 1980 election in which a lot of voters who made up their minds in the final days of the race voted for challenger Ronald Reagan over incumbent President Jimmy Carter.

"Here I sort of think of Clinton as the incumbent, that is same party as Obama, and there seems to be evidence voters are breaking away from the incumbent towards the challenger because they don’t like the direction that the country is going," Schultz said.

Support of women

Clinton had an advantage when it came to support from female voters, but Trump always had more support among men throughout the race, particularly whites.

Schultz said sexism is part of the story of this election.

"There is I think still a large percentage of our population that won't vote for a woman for president of the United States. Exactly what it is, I don't know. I don't think the polls are reflecting that either," he said.

It’s tough to gain admission to Yale University, and it’s getting even tougher for international students as standout students from around the world set their sights on Yale.

The Yale Dale News, the campus newspaper, takes a look at the situation here.

Read the full story here.

Ruth Chane, a computer science major from Ethiopia, writes about her experiences settling into student life at Whitman College in the U.S. state of Washington.

"The community at Whitman College made sure I felt welcomed even before I stepped foot on campus," she says.

Read her essay here.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.

WASHINGTON — 

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.

STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)

U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.

Read the full story here. (January 2025)

US News & World Report details the three top factors in foreign students' decision to study in the U.S. They include research opportunities and the reputation of U.S. degrees. Read the full story here. (December 2024)

A British student who did a year abroad at Bowling Green State University in Ohio talks about adjusting to life in America in a TikTok video, Newsweek magazine reports.

Among the biggest surprises? Portion sizes, jaywalking laws and dorm room beds.

Read the full story here. (December 2024)

Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health reaches out to international students by detailing the international student experience at the school.

Learn more about housing, life in Boston and more here.

BEIJING — 

China issued its first national action plan to build a "strong education nation" by 2035, which it said would help coordinate its education development, improve efficiencies in innovation and build a "strong country."

The plan, issued Sunday by the Communist Party's central committee and the State Council, aims to establish a "high quality education system" with accessibility and quality "among the best in the world."

The announcement was made after data on Friday showed China's population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, with the number of deaths outpacing a slight increase in births, and experts cautioning that the downturn will worsen in the coming years.

High childcare and education costs have been a key factor for many young Chinese opting out of having children, at a time when many face uncertainty over their job prospects amid sluggish economic growth.

"By 2035, an education power will be built," the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that China would explore gradually expanding the scope of free education, increase "high-quality" undergraduate enrolment, expand postgraduate education, and raise the proportion of doctoral students.

The plan aims to promote "healthy growth and all-round development of students," making sure primary and secondary school students have at least two hours of physical activity daily, to effectively control the myopia, or nearsightedness, and obesity rates.

"Popularizing" mental health education and establishing a national student mental health monitoring and early warning system would also be implemented, it said.

It also aims to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas to improve the operating conditions of small-scale rural schools and improve the care system for children with disabilities and those belonging to agricultural migrant populations.

The plan also aims to steadily increase the supply of kindergarten places and the accessibility of preschool education.

The Open Notebook, a site focusing on educating journalists who cover science, has complied a list of U.S. graduate program financial aid information for international students.

Read it here.