The International Center pictured on July 7, 2020.
The number of international students enrolled at Michigan State University this semester declined 3.8% compared to last fall, dropping from 4,768 to 4,589, according to recently released data from the university.
While the change is in line with the steady decline in international enrollment that the university has experienced over the past decade, it’s a gentler fall than some international student advocates projected. They had warned that the federal government temporarily suspending crucial student visa interviews during the summer, terminating visa records in the spring and issuing fewer visas ahead of the school year would hamper enrollment figures come fall.
JB International and NAFSA: Association of International Educators projected that Michigan could lose nearly 15% of its international students across its public and private institutions compared to last year.
Chief Executive Officer of the Michigan Association of State Universities Daniel Hurley said the data seems to imply that MSU was “spared” from what he expects will be the largest decline in international enrollment over “the last couple of decades,” excluding during the pandemic.
Since February, universities like MSU have faced a flurry of challenges as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to restrict non-citizens from studying in the country.
In late March, the federal government began terminating the records of international students from a U.S. Department of State database, often without giving notice or providing a reason. The university was aware of at least 12 students who either had their visas revoked or records terminated. Four of those records were later reinstated.
From late May to mid-June, the Department of State temporarily ceased scheduling new interviews for students looking to study in the U.S., prompting MSU to advise students not to leave the country. That halt was intended to allow for increased screening of visa applicants’ social media feeds, U.S. officials said at the time.
Those developments, combined with the government implementing a visa ban on 19 countries and issuing fewer visas over the summer, contributed to concerns that the country could lose out on roughly 177,000 international students and $6 billion in revenue.
University spokesperson Amber McCann said the change in enrollment numbers from last year to this year was “not unexpected,” adding that a “mixture of national trends, changes in higher education options in home countries and competition from other countries has likely impacted enrollment.”
Director of the Office for International Students and Scholars Krista McCallum Beatty did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
The countries most represented among international students this fall are China, India and Korea. Students from those countries accounted for 1,035, 881 and 242 students at MSU, respectively.
While MSU experienced only a slight decline in its international enrollment, other schools in the state saw more drastic decreases. Hurley, of the Association of State Universities, said smaller institutions like Central Michigan University and private colleges have seen more intense drop-offs. At the same time, he said, Saginaw Valley State University and the University of Michigan-Flint were expecting to grow their international enrollment.
As for what could be behind the mixed results from school to school, Hurley said: “I just don’t know, and I think that will be something that will be teased out here in the weeks and months ahead.”
