The election of Joe Biden as the 46th United States President has clearly been good news for international students at any program, in particular those studying at Master of Business Administration (MBA) colleges.
Since March, when the COVID-19 spread across the world, the majority of international students in the United States have been affected due to travel restrictions measures, closure of embassies, and lack of jobs, leaving many of them financially damaged as well, Erudera College News reports.
Along with the pandemic, several policies imposed by the Trump administration have affected international students in the US, and thus triggered a significant decrease in the number of international students.
According to an analysis on the Best Business Schools by Bloomberg Businessweek of the magazine’s top 20 US schools, there is 29.5 per cent of international students who began the class at elite schools in August-September. Two years ago, this percentage was 34.9 per cent.
On the other hand, the Open Doors report by the US Department of State and the Institute of International Education (IIE) has revealed that international students represent 5.5 per cent of all students in the US higher education.
The same report, focusing on the 2019-20 academic year, has shown that there was a 1.8 per cent drop in the number of international students even before the COVID-19 outbreak.
During 2016, 50 per cent of international students applied to full-time MBA programs in the United States.
Following this, the director of Industry Insights & Research Communications at the Graduate Management Admission Council, who owns and administers the Graduate Management Admission Test, Rahul Choudaha said that by 2020 the number of international applicants has decreased to 35 per cent.
Lower numbers have been noted at the Tepper School of Business which is based at Carnegie Mellon University, where international enrollments for entering class dropped from 35 per cent to 28 per cent this year.
Tepper’s dean and professor of finance, Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou, said that despite travel restrictions, the school’s priority will be to continue attracting international students.
“The strength of our nation has always been linked to our ability to attract the world’s top talent and, in particular, the ability to bring top brains from so many different countries to work side-by-side with Americans,” she said.
In addition to Tepper, there was a decline in international enrollments at the University of North Carolina’s Flagler School of Business as well.
According to Wall Street Journal, absence of international students pursuing MBA degrees in the United States means that the majority of them are seeking to head to other countries for their studies, especially in Canada and Europe.
During the Democratic presidential primary 2020, Joe Biden, among others, supported the proposal of Senator Elizabeth Warren to cancel student debts, at least partially, and has also proposed free college tuition for students who belong to some certain categories.