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Syracuse University’s international student enrollment has decreased significantly this semester as students from other countries face travel restrictions and other challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic.

After increasing steadily over the past few years, SU’s international student enrollment decreased from 19.6% in 2019 to 17.6% this fall, according to university census data released in September. The decrease is partially due to personal and financial difficulties the pandemic has created for international students, but it also reflects a larger trend of decreasing international student enrollment at United States universities, experts and students told The Daily Orange.

SU’s decline in international student enrollment wipes away increases made in 2018 and 2019. Overall, the number of international student visas issued in the U.S. has been steadily declining over the past few years, along with international student enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities, said Julia Gelatt, senior policy analyst of the Migration Policy Institute.

“Many of the high-skilled immigrants that contribute strongly to the U.S. economy first came as foreign students,” Gelatt said. “A decline in foreign students is an early warning that the United States may be losing its edge in attracting the best and brightest from around the world.”

The U.S. no longer seems as welcoming to international students as it may have in the past, Gelatt said. Over the summer, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security tried to pass guidelines to deport international students taking classes entirely online, leading many international students at SU to feel unwelcome in the country.

The limited in-person learning experience available during the pandemic might also have deterred international students from studying at SU or in the U.S. this semester, said Huiru Yu, a graduate international student in SU’s graphic design program.

Even for international students who were able to enroll at SU in person or virtually this semester, managing classes and becoming familiar with the central New York region has proven difficult, Yu said. Virtual courses have also made it more challenging for international students to communicate with professors and make friends, she said.

“It’s already difficult for international students to make friends with American students — at least for me it is,” Yu said.

Katie Marcy | Digital Design Director

SU is working with immigration authorities to enroll students facing visa or travel-related challenges, Chancellor Kent Syverud said at a University Senate meeting Sept. 23.

The university census tallied SU’s total number of students at 21,322 for fall 2020, a decrease of 1,500 since the previous fall. Syverud said at the Sept. 23 meeting that he believes SU will recover from the decrease in overall enrollment later this year.

Changing travel policies related to the pandemic, combined with an unstable job market, have also disrupted international students’ ability to plan for breaks or after graduation, Yu said.

Qian Chen, an international student who graduated from SU in the spring, is now working remotely for a technology company. He had trouble finding a job after graduation since many companies have implemented hiring freezes.

Huirong Wang, a student in the magazine, news and online journalism graduate program, planned to work for a law office in New York City during the summer before she returned to SU, but she no longer could after the office closed in March.

Travel restrictions also prevented Wang from returning to China to see her grandmother before she passed away in late March. The loss of income, coupled with the emotional impact of the pandemic, has made the return to SU challenging this year, Wang said.

“I planned to work for a longer time before I went to graduate school, but I could not work because of COVID-19,” she said.

Yu thinks the travel restrictions may have dissuaded new international students from coming to SU also prevented her from traveling home last summer. So long as travel restrictions persist, she won’t be able to travel home to see her family during winter break.

“If there wasn’t COVID, I can travel around the states,” Yu said. “It should be part of my experience here studying abroad. The whole thing is really frustrating, and I just wish the world could go back to normal.”

Published on October 12, 2020 at 11:51 pm