COVID red tape taking a toll on foreign students, state economy
WASHINGTON — The coronavirus is threatening to cripple international education in the United States for the second year in a row — a potentially massive blow to Texas, where foreign students contribute an estimated $2 billion to the state’s economy.
Embassies and consulates in many nations are still shuttered because of the pandemic, so students across much of the world can’t get visas to come to the American universities they want to attend in the fall. And the U.S. currently bans travel from some of the nations that send the most students, including China and Brazil, so even students who can get their visas there have to spend two weeks quarantining in a third country before entering the U.S.
Colleges are pressing the Biden administration to figure out a way to make it easier for those students to get to the U.S. — and to do so quickly, as decision deadlines are fast approaching.
It’s shaping up to be another serious blow to international education after colleges and universities reported a 43 percent decline in new student enrollment in 2020 that drove a 16 percent drop in international enrollment in the U.S. That translated to an estimated $1.8 billion economic hit nationally, according to a November analysis by a group that lobbies for international educa
tion. Much is on the line in Texas, which educates more foreign students than all but two other states.
And the losses are compounding. Many of the students unable to attend last year won’t enroll at all, meaning colleges are losing out on four or more years of enrollment. Another decline this year could add to that domino effect.
“The State Department has about 60 days to determine if the United States is going to be in a lost decade for foreign student education in America,” said Leon Fresco, an immigration attorney in Washington, D.C.
Getting creative
Those who don’t give up could have a long wait to get in — and might have to get creative.
Luisa Rezende, a 26year-old graduate student at Rice University from Brazil, spent all of last year worrying about whether and when she would be able to get to Houston. The COVID-19 shutdowns started just days after she received her acceptance letter last March. She was able to study online for her first semester, but as a biology student she knew she’d have to get to campus as fast as possible to do the research that is central to her degree.
By December, the consulates in Brazil were still closed. But Rezende had heard from other students in similar positions that they had been able to go to Ecuador and apply for American visas there. The day she got an email delaying her visa interview in Brazil for the fourth time, she applied in Ecuador, where she had to spend two weeks in quarantine, despite not speaking Spanish or knowing anyone there. She got to Houston in February.
‘Devastating’ impact
Rezende said she understands well what students in other countries are going through now.
“Of course it crossed my mind to give up,” Rezende said. “It’s always that thought — by the end of the year it will be OK? It’s like, almost a year, probably you’ll be OK. The vaccines will start to be applied. But you never know.”
A group of 10 Texas university leaders, including University of Texas at San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the department to begin offering visa interviews over the internet in nations where embassies are shut.
“With U.S. visa processing all but halted for academic categories, U.S. universities will face another year of little to no international students and scholars,” they wrote. “This is devastating for our universities.”
UTSA saw a 30 percent decline in new international
student enrollment from 2019 to 2020. The school is bracing for a smaller incoming class again this year, despite the fact that applications are up from even before the pandemic.
The COVID-driven declines, meanwhile, come as the U.S. — long the world’s leader in higher education — lost ground to other nations over the last four years as those countries sought to take advantage of the Trump administration’s immigration crack down.
American universities argued throughout Trump’s term that he was sending a “clarion message of exclusion to millions” as he pushed policies such as a travel ban for some predominately Muslim countries he instituted in his first year in office. His administration had also proposed restrictions in student visas last year.
Countries like Australia, long one of the U.S.’ biggest competitors, took advantage, advertising their own nations as welcoming alternatives. Australia, Canada, China and other countries saw foreign student enrollment grow as American universities weathered a steady decline.
But few American universities expected the downward trend — now accelerated by COVID-19 — to continue into the Biden administration. A recent survey of international students found some 76 percent had a better perception of the U.S. after the election, with 67 percent saying they were more likely to study here.
“It is very hard on every university, and I don’t think anyone saw it would go on this long,” Adria Baker, associate vice provost for international education at Rice, said of the pandemic declines. “I just think what happens is we lose fabulous people to competitor countries. And that’s completely unfortunate. It’s very hard on our country.”
The State Department has prioritized students in nations where embassies are open, but the backlog from last year has pushed those interviews back months. A State Department spokeswoman said the agency doesn’t expect to be able to safely return to pre-pandemic workload levels until at least mid-2021.
Life in limbo
“Our embassies and consulates are working to resume routine visa services on a location-by-location basis as quickly as possible,” Marlo Cross-Durrant said. “However, the pandemic continues to severely impact the number of visas our posts are able to process.”
Some students who have been accepted to Rice have reported they’ve had appointments scheduled and rescheduled repeatedly, some now set as late as October or November, or even February of next year, Baker said. The university is bracing to lose 600 or
more international students this year — a big hit at a small school where foreign students account for nearly a quarter of the student body. The pandemic prevented about 500 from attending last year.
Lisa Montoya, vice provost for global initiatives and senior international officer at UTSA, said those who have been able to get interviews are seeing them scheduled just 30 days before they are supposed to leave their country at best.
“If you’re trying to study abroad and you don’t know if you’re going to get a visa until 30 days before, what are the chances you’re going to follow through and get to orientation day?” she said. “It’s just a lot of value left on the table.”
The travel restrictions are another major issue.
‘A huge hurdle’
Nearly 20 percent of the foreign students at the University of Houston are from China, meaning about 600 students can’t travel directly to the U.S. And it’s not just new students, the university has 269 students who are now stuck in countries with restrictions. Those who want to return to the U.S. have to quarantine for two weeks in a third country without the same restrictions before they can make it back.
“It’s a huge hurdle for students,” said Jin Zhang, director of UH’s International Student and Scholar Services Office.
University officials say they’re trying to keep in close contact with the students their schools have admitted, sending emails sometimes twice a week with updates. But the reality is nobody really knows what will happen, so advising those students isn’t easy.
And while universities say they’re willing to work with those it can to extend deadlines as needed, many students have to choose between multiple universities and make a decision soon. Some are counting on stipends from graduate programs for income and can’t wait around for months hoping for a visa.
“They’re giving up on the United States,” Rice’s Baker said.
Deni Jose Cresto, a 26year-old studying sports science at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, said he hopes his would-be fellow international students don’t give up.
Though he was able to start his degree at St. Mary’s before the pandemic hit, he also spent much of the last year stuck in Brazil, studying remotely. He said he worried “all the time” about how he would get back into the U.S. He had to quarantine for two weeks in Mexico in January before he was able to get back in.
“It’s worth it. It’s worth it,” he said. “It’s not just studying. It’s also creating a community, everyone helps each other here.”