Trump unlikely to deter students heading to US

While Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House is unlikely to affect Chinese wanting to study in the US, his administration’s plan to tighten immigration could mean more of them will need to return right after graduation, education consultants have said.

The United States has long been the No 1 destination for students from China, which in turn has been the US’ top source of foreign students for the past seven years, according to the Institute for International Education’s Open Doors Report 2016.

The report, released in November, said 328,547 Chinese were studying in the US Tian Wang, a consultant at Vision Overseas, part of New Oriental Education and Technology Group last year, up by 8 percent year-on-year, accounting for one-third of the country’s international students.

Since the presidential election, Trump and his advisers have signaled moves to tighten employment and visa policies relating to foreign students, triggering concern among some parents. Yet education industry insiders have said any rule changes would have a minimal effect in the shortterm.

Zhang Weiyong, a chief consultant at Golden Orient, a overseas-education agency in Beijing, said demand among Chinese students for high-quality educational resources in the US will not change unless the resources do.

“I believe there will still be large numbers of Chinese heading to the US to study after Trump takes office,” he said. “Even if the president and his team follow through on the comments they have made about international students, the trend will continue for a year or two, as parents and students are not sensitive to policies.”

Tian Wang, a consultant at Vision Overseas, part of New Oriental Education and Technology Group, added that he feels the new administration will factor in the vast contribution overseas students make to the US economy.

“At some universities, particularly those in California, the Chinese take up an even larger proportion (than onethird) and are a major source of revenue,” he said.

“Nobody would reject money, not to mention that Trump is a businessman. In that sense, I think the possibility of the Trump administration carrying out unfavorable policies toward international students is small.”

He warned, however, that students who plan to work or gain residency in the US after graduation should be fully prepared for any possible changes to immigration policies.

Jeff Sessions, who has been nominated as head of the Justice Department, for example, has objected to both legal and illegal immigration, and has mentioned abolishing Optional Practical Training, a program that allows international students to stay in the US for several months after graduation to look for work.

“If that is abolished, it will make the already difficult tasks of landing a job and obtaining residency even harder for international students,” Tian said.

Nobody would reject money, not to mention that Trump is a businessman.”