10% Drop in Intl. Students Would Cause Billions in Revenue Losses

A 10 percent overall decline in international enrollment would cost U.S. colleges and universities about $3 billion in revenue, according to calculations by The Financial Times.

It’s currently unclear how much, if at all, international student enrollment will fall next year. According to The Financial Times, three-quarters of institutions surveyed by NAFSA, an association for international education organizations, predict their international enrollment will decline next year, with the majority predicting declines of at least 10 percent.

If NAFSA’s numbers prove accurate, the publication reported, universities would lose about $900 million in tuition revenue alone.

“The mood is one of frustration and uncertainty. To see this very much self-imposed pain we’ve created is very problematic,” Joann Ng Hartmann, NAFSA’s senior impact officer, told the FT. “We are putting yet another burden on students and schools pursuing their academic dreams.”