International students bring a wealth of diversity and a healthy chunk of money to many American colleges and universities.

But the flow of international students to the U.S. will most likely decrease in the fall. The coronavirus has hit the U.S. hard and may dissuade some international students from coming. Challenges and delays in obtaining visas to America, and in getting flights here, threaten the enrollment of some.

Trade conflicts and other tensions between the U.S. and some nations, particularly China, the biggest source of international students, might play into some students' decisions. Further, the number of international students enrolled in American colleges has already dropped over the past couple of years.

"There are just so many things out of our control," said Lina Stover, undergraduate admissions director at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Coronavirus crisis

Sue Zhang, a Chinese student who will graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this month, has decided to go to graduate school at UNL as well. But Zhang, who has majored in civil engineering and math, told the Omaha World-Herald she expects the coronavirus crisis to cut into UNL's international student enrollment.

Worry about getting COVID-19 compelled her to stay put at UNL. She had hoped to visit other graduate schools this spring, such as Stanford University and the University of California-Davis, but she didn't want to fly while the country was intensely affected by the virus.

"I think the university is doing everything they can," said Zhang, who moved with some other international students into UNL's Eastside Suites residence hall when the crisis closed many dorms.

A UNL professor in civil engineering, Dave Admiraal, said Zhang has a passion for learning and the ability to pick up new things quickly. "I have learned so much from them (international students) beyond what I would have learned had I only been exposed to students from the U.S.," he said in an email.

Zhang plans to start working on a master's degree in water resource engineering this summer. As for trade tensions and other conflicts between the U.S. and China, she said they aren't vital to her. "I'm just not that into politics," she said.

Declining student population

Last fall, UNL's international student population fell from 2,807 to 2,560, according to the UNL Factbook, an 8.8 percent decline. The coronavirus crisis may affect all universities' enrollments in the fall, said Josh Davis, UNL's associate vice chancellor for global affairs. It's too early to say how much, he said.

"International students really add so much to our campus and our community," Davis said. They enrich a campus's diversity and have become a key source of revenue to American colleges over the past 10 years. At UNL and Iowa State, they make up close to 10 percent of the enrollment, and many of them pay full out-of-state tuition.

Davis said UNL wants to stay in touch with international students who have stayed on campus or gone home. UNL holds virtual coffee talks, he said, and held a virtual karaoke night this semester. The students "are looking for the signal and message that they're welcome here," he said.

If visa challenges mean that some international students can't get back to Lincoln until the middle of the fall semester, Davis said, UNL will work with them.

'Three-plus years of rhetoric'

Grant De Roo, a higher education consultant in Iowa City, said "three-plus years of rhetoric that paints other countries as antagonists to the United States" has hurt international enrollment. President Donald Trump's talk about sealing borders, American nationalism and a travel ban for some nations give the U.S. an unfriendly image, he said.

"I think it's really fundamentally changing the way international students view the United States," he said.

Ryan Hamilton, executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party, disagrees. Trump insists that allies fulfill their financial obligations to international organizations like NATO and that Mexico strengthen its border, Hamilton said.

If those expectations make the U.S. seem less friendly and unwilling to be taken advantage of, "most Americans are prepared to accept" the consequences, he said.

Edna Chun, chief learning officer at the consulting firm HigherEd Talent, said delays in obtaining visas could make it difficult for some international students to come to the U.S. Greater scrutiny of visas is also a concern.

Chun cited a Palestinian student from Lebanon who enrolled at Harvard University last year. Immigration officials in Boston sent the student back to Lebanon when they found anti-American political messages from his friends on a laptop, according to multiple news accounts. The young man was ultimately allowed in.

The University of Nebraska at Kearney saw a slight decline in international students last year. Tim Burkink, UNK's assistant vice chancellor for international affairs, said he and his staff hope to retain many of their existing international students, about three-fourths of whom remain in Kearney.

Visa hangups "would probably be the biggest barrier" to coming to UNK, he said. Staff shortages at U.S. consulates and embassies in other nations -- American staffers have been brought back during the pandemic -- contribute to visa problems.

Burkink nevertheless said he is optimistic that the number of international students at UNK will be flat or only slightly down.

De Roo said competition for those students has increased in recent years. English-language nations such as Canada, Great Britain and Australia have upped their higher ed games to provide good degree programs for international students, he said.

Not everyone saw a decline last year. Wayne State College said its global enrollment increased last fall to 82 from 38. UNO's rose from 845 to 876.

Sue Zhang, who plans to be an engineer, said her parents hope that she will eventually return to China. Their wishes are a major consideration, she said.

But she could also imagine getting a job in the U.S. or getting married and staying here. "I was kind of thinking about it," she said. "Who will know what will happen later?"

This story was written by Rick Ruggles of Omaha World-Herald for the Associated Press.

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.

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.

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.