A Schooling for Universities

American universities have plenty of reasons to rethink their business model, but a new one this week might actually get their attention: Fewer international students are coming to the United States.

Enrollments of new students from abroad fell by nearly 10,000, or 3 percent, in the fall of 2016, a report by the Institute of International Education noted Monday. It marked the first such decline in the six years IIE has been tracking the figure.

This September, too, schools saw drops in the number of incoming foreign students. In an online survey by IIE, some 500 schools reported an average 7 percent dip. It cites “competition from other countries,” costs, visa delays or denials and other factors.

True, data from two years aren’t enough to know for sure if foreigners are really starting to shun US schools, which still are among the best in the world. But IIE president Allan Goodman says his group is watching with “great concern.” A downward trend “could represent a serious problem for the nation.”

Well, it would surely be serious for universities. After all, many charge foreigners more than US kids and rely heavily on the extra funds. The Commerce Department cited a $39 billion jolt last year (for tuition, room and board and living expenses) from foreigners.

And that comes on top of threats to colleges’ government funding. Congress, for example, is now weighing an end to the tax deduction for student-loan interest. That, too, could affect higher-ed’s economics.

Plus, many young adults considering college — in America as well as elsewhere — are increasingly questioning the value of higher education. Who can blame them?

Students and parents shelling out thousands for courses like “Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse” at Michigan State or “Underwater Basket Weaving” (yes, that’s an actual course) at Reed wonder if they’ll really be getting their money’s worth.

Then there’s the campus political environment, where left-leaning college staff have clamped down on free thought and speech.

Meanwhile, government subsidies have led many schools to simply jack up tuition sky-high and expand spending on administrative staffs; students don’t truly benefit.

A falloff in funds from schools’ foreign-cash pipeline could spark a hard new look at college financing. Good. That kind of a review is long overdue.