Report: Fewer Chinese students attend U.S. universities

A report noted that Chinese students are rethinking whether to attend U.S. higher education institutions as of late, due to various factors. Foreign students are considered a cash cow for U.S. institutions as they can charge a higher tuition rate than out-of-state or in-state students.

Axios reported the news about the enrollment trends and pointed out, “China has been the top country of origin for international students in the U.S. for more than a decade, making it a key source of revenue for many American universities and colleges.” Statistically speaking, the overall number of enrolled Chinese students almost tripled over the past ten years from around 130,000 to 370,000-plus in 2019-20.

However, there was an 8.6% decline in 2022 in the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S. But the number of Indian students went up by 19% in the same time period.

Some of the factors deterring Chinese students were “persistent gun violence, anti-Asian racism, rocky U.S.-China relations, a slowing Chinese economy.”

It is important to note that under the Trump administration, visas were shortened for Chinese graduate students studying aviation, robotics, or similar subjects. This policy, which came as a result of concerns that the Chinese Communist Party is sending spies into U.S. institutions and corporations, is continued under the Biden administration.

Considering that the Chinese population will likely fall off a steep cliff in the coming years, U.S. institutions have to look elsewhere for revenue or find ways to balance their budgets (such as slashing a bloated bureaucracy).

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