Whilst the numbers of international students have been dropping recently in the UK, the same can’t be said for those looking at studying in the US.
Trump’s return to the White House has caused a worldwide controversy but latest reports from the IDP Education research survey show that Trump has improved the US in the eyes of international students.
In order for international students to make the decision to move abroad to study, there must be lots of drawing factors and it’s safe to say America has always been seen as a big and shiny place to start afresh.
Simon Emmett, IDP chief partner officer, told The PIE News,“The strong interest from prospective students and applicants reinforces that the US has ongoing appeal as a top destination due to its high quality of education and job prospects.”
Improvement in perception
The students seemingly most impressed by Trump’s re-election are students from Bangladesh. The surveys showed this country had the biggest “improvement in perception of the US,” with 64% saying that the appeal of the country had increased since the election.
Other countries that showed similar interest were India with 48% and China at 27%.
American appeal
The US-China Education Trust, suggests that so many Chinese students move to the US to study because of “the chance to experience life in another country, greater freedom in choosing what to study, and the opportunity to improve career prospects.”
For students, “The high quality of US education, the reputation of its institutions and the availability of cutting-edge technology” were the factors reportedly seen as most attractive to them when looking at moving to the US to study, in the IDP survey.
One size doesn’t fit all
Despite an increased appeal to some international students, not all feel the same about Trump’s re-election.
Simon Emmett said that, “there is no ‘one size fits all’” when it comes to international students. Especially considering that different regional students will have significantly different priorities. The IDP chief partner officer says, “International students have very different motivations, ambitions and concerns when it comes to studying abroad.”
Regional variation
According to thepienews.com, due to different priorities and also political beliefs, if Trump’s widely expected travel ban is to be implemented, “27% of Chinese respondents” and “23% of Pakistani respondents” indicated they would no longer consider studying in the US.
This travel ban would also impact how international students would view the country, as “nearly two-thirds” of the survey’s respondents said their perception of the US as a “welcoming” destination would “worsen” if the ban was enforced.
Lowest pull factors
On top of the travel ban, some other factors dissuading international students from studying in the US were pulled up in the report.
“Pathways to permanent residency, post-graduation work visas and international student diversity were considered the study destination’s lowest pull factors in the IDP study”, says thepienews.com.
