Barring International Students Could Cost Universities Billions

Washington, DC—The new policy requiring international students on F-1 visas to leave the country if their university transitions to online-only learning in the fall could have a major impact on universities’ bottom lines, according to a new Bipartisan Policy Center analysis published today.

BPC estimates that international graduate and undergraduate students pay roughly $20 billion per year in tuition and fees. Those international students are more likely to pay the full published price for tuition and fees, giving colleges the flexibility to reduce these prices for domestic students.

“International undergraduate and graduate students contribute an estimated 14% of total tuition revenues at four-year institutions annually, despite comprising just around 6% of total enrollment,” write BPC experts Kenneth Megan and Theresa Cardinal Brown.

At a time when higher education enrollment is already projected to decrease by 15% this year as a result of COVID-19, universities are already facing an estimated $23 billion decline in revenues, and this policy would further erode their financial stability.

Kenneth Megan and Theresa Cardinal Brown are available for interviews.