When choosing a college or study abroad program, the first question most parents ask is: “Will my child be safe there?”
Cal State Long Beach officials have seen a 35 percent drop in international applicants for graduate programs this year and Associate Vice President for International Education Jeet Joshee says a negative perception of the political climate in the United States may be playing a big role.
“Safety has always been a concern … with students and parents, one of the top questions is always about safety: How safe is the campus? How safe is Long Beach? And that’s normal for any institution, I think,” Joshee said. “But what’s different this time is what’s been happening nationally, forces that we can’t control. There’s a lot of press coverage internationally. What happens here, in my view, gets covered more overseas.”
He estimates that there will be also be a 15 percent drop in enrolled international graduate students this year, which will cause CSULB to lose money. International graduate students pay almost three times the tuition that domestic graduate students pay and because of that, they contribute to the overall budget more than a domestic student does.
Undergraduate international applications have stayed relatively the same as last year, with freshman and transfer applications rising 4 to 5 percent.
While domestic student applications to CSULB have been closed since November, international students had until April 1 to apply to the university.
According to Joshee, when news of shootings, a tense racial climate and controversial executive orders travels overseas, it often resonates with international citizens even more than it does with Americans, painting a picture that the country is dangerous throughout.
“It sends a negative perception of how things are, although we know – day in and day out – it’s not that different for us here,” Joshee said. “But certainly overseas, the perception is not that great … We know that that is not our society, we know that we welcome everyone, we value everyone, we celebrate diversity, we celebrate different viewpoints, but that is not how it’s understood overseas.”
This isn’t the only reason why graduate applications have decreased, but Joshee said it is also a big concern for the future if the situation does not improve.
In addition, he said that potential students might be concerned about getting their visas to the US because of President Donald Trump’s executive orders placing restrictions on visa applicants.
“You can apply and you can get admitted, but then our consulates might not be as easy to get a visa right before,” Joshee said. “… But now the scrutiny is so intense, even the students who would have received their admission and visa papers [before] may not get the visa … There is a concern that: ‘If i can’t get the visa, why should I go through all the hassle of applying?’”
Joshee clarified that visas have never been guaranteed, even before the executive orders, but if students “did their homework” and got all the right paperwork in order and met the requirements, they would usually get the visas.
Joshee said that CSULB has 52 current students from the six countries Trump placed a travel ban on in March. He said these students are fine because they all have valid student visas, but he still advises them not to travel, especially to their home countries, as many of them have a single entry visa. They are also full-degree seeking students, meaning they are here for their entire degree.
“It’s a confusing time for international students with all this negativity,” Joshee said. “But Long Beach has always been a very welcoming place for all students, students from any country, any religious, ethnic, nationality backgrounds … that continues to be the case, regardless of what is happening on a national stage.”