The U.S. government’s pumping of $35 billion into emergency aid for college students has not been enough for some universities, say education experts.

They cite drastically lower enrollments even as things appear to be shifting back to normal after more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Enrollments are down quite significantly, both at the public institutions and the community colleges, nationwide,” said Todd Sedmak, manager of corporate communications at National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), a nonprofit organization that crunches education data.

“This decrease in enrollment has led to less money coming to universities from tuition and fees,” he said.

Declines in enrollment occurred because of the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down campuses in March 2020. Students switched to remote learning, while others deferred enrollment: Online learning, coupled with the cost of college — was not worth it for many students.

Among international students, enrollment decreased 43% for the fall 2020 semester, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). Among American students, enrollments declined 2.5% in fall 2020, nearly twice the rate of enrollment decline reported in fall 2019, NSC reported.

SEE ALSO:

International Student Enrollment in US Takes Hit

The fiscal contribution from international students to the U.S. economy in the 2019-2020 academic year was $38.7 billion, down $1.8 billion (4.4%), Rachel Banks, senior director of public policy and legislation at NAFSA: Association of International Educators, wrote in an email to VOA.

The savings from colleges and universities not operating study abroad programs during the pandemic partially offset the financial loss of fewer enrollments, said Catharine Hill, managing director of Ithaka S+R, an organization looking to broaden access to higher education and reduce costs.

But overall, said Lynn Pasquerella, president of American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the pandemic’s economic toll on U.S. universities and colleges has been huge.

Some colleges have closed, unable to weather the economic storm. Banks pointed to Becker College in Massachusetts, Mills College in California, and Concordia College in New York as examples, writing that they “have had to shut their doors because the pandemic exacerbated their existing financial troubles.”

As for students who suddenly find themselves without a college or university to attend, Federal Student Aid (FSA), an office of the U.S. Department of Education, lists options.

Students may transfer to another university to finish their program of study. Some closing institutions offer what is called a teach out, which is a specific contract with another institution for students to fulfill their studies to graduate.

Concordia College in Bronxville, New York, agreed to a formal agreement with nearby Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, to provide continued education for Concordia’s students. Iona will purchase Concordia’s leafy Bronxville campus.

Graduating international students at Concordia who hold F-1 student visas will be protected by a transfer of records to Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota, according to the university website. The university will be a custodian of the student’s records, allowing the Designated School Official (DSO) there to manage students who have been approved for Optional Practical Training (OPT), a popular work-permit program for international students.

For U.S. citizens who decide not to continue their education immediately, they can try to discharge their federal student loans, meaning some or all of the money is not repaid.

For international students, school closures could threaten their visa status. Students are encouraged to speak to their school’s designated official for the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).

According to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, schools will retain access to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) to transfer and maintain student records until a date set by SEVP, upon which SEVP will terminate the student’s SEVIS records.

Active nonimmigrant students or students in initial status who have already entered the U.S. after being cleared to do so can transfer to another SEVP-certified institution, change their visa status or leave the country, according to ICE.

In terms of what the fall semester will look like for international students in the U.S., Ithaka S+R’s Hill said uncertainty still exists.

“I think there'll still be some problems with international students just because other countries are not getting vaccinated as quickly,” she said. “So, I'm not quite sure what they'll do there ... have a negative test before they leave, bring them back, have them quarantine for two weeks, and then get the vaccine.”

Hill also said she hoped domestic students “can come back.”

Pasquerella acknowledged that in addition to the schools of higher learning, students have had to face hardships during the pandemic.

“For decades, we've been talking about how the current financial model for higher education is unsustainable; we can't continue to have increasing tuition, burgeoning loan burdens for students, especially at a time when job prospects for college graduates are uncertain,” she said.

To best help students, Pasquerella said, reinvestment in higher education is needed. That way, she said, it would be seen as a public good, rather than a private commodity. Hill noted that the Biden administration’s proposal to double the Pell Grant would be helpful.

A federal Pell Grant does not have to be repaid. The maximum Pell Grant for 2015–2016 was $5,775. The amount depends on the costs to attend school, a person’s financial need, status as a full- or part-time student, and plans to attend school for a full academic year or less, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Hill said she is still worried about the pandemic’s effect on lower-income students.

“I do worry that low-income families have been so disrupted that getting students to college — I mean, even if the economy comes back, if you've been out of the labor market for a year, [it] takes a little longer to recover from that,” she told VOA.

“The higher your income, the more likely that you actually still had some in-person classes or effective synchronous online classes,” Hill said. “And the lower your income, the more likely that you've just missed out on a good part of your high school education. And that's going to put students in a very different position when it's time to go to college.”

While the coronavirus and its variants remain global, Banks said enrollment was up from last year’s significant losses.

The Common App, a standardized application to colleges and universities, showed that as of February 15, the volume of international applicants to U.S. colleges and universities for Fall 2021 had increased by about 13% over the prior year.

The countries that send the most students are showing increases, Banks said, with the exception of China.

“Although applications from China are down by 18% from last year, there are large increases in applicants from other countries including India (+28%), Canada (+22%), Nigeria (+12%), Pakistan (+37%), the United Kingdom (+23%), and Brazil (+41%),” she wrote.

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.