International student enrollment continues to decline at UHCL
International students make up a notable portion of a diverse student body count on U.S. campuses nationwide. The Institute of International Education stated that Texas universities enroll the third-highest number of foreign students in the country. However, international student enrollment is down 5 percent at University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) since the college became a four-year university in 2014.
“Around 6 percent of the student body are [currently] international students,” said Janel Dumbre, associate director of international admissions and advising.
In 2013, UHCL had around 960 international students which made up 11 percent of the student body. By the year 2015, the number had increased up to 1,422. Unfortunately, enrollment numbers dropped drastically in 2016 with 851 international students on campus.
However, this decline is not unique to UHCL.
“The decline is a national trend that began in the 2015-2016 academic year,” Dumbre said. “According to the Open Doors report, in the U.S. for the 2017-2018 academic year, new enrollment for international students overall went down by 6.6 percent.”
There are many factors that contribute to the decline of international students applications.
“Due to the new policy changes from the recent administration, I think that is the reason why fewer people are coming from other countries,” said Sai Sasank, international student at UHCL pursuing a master’s in computer engineering. “They want to get good opportunities here, get a good job. International students are not sure about the new policies, how are they working and how are they going to affect their studies.”
Dumbre said the decline in international student enrollment can be contributed to multiple factors including current immigration policies.
“As reported by IIE and NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the data reveals that there are multiple contributing factors negatively affecting international enrollment in the U.S.,” Dumbre said. “Some of these include: unwelcoming rhetoric about foreign nationals that generates fear and uncertainty, U.S. immigration processing being bottlenecked and stricter immigration practices.”
The amount of state funding distributed for public universities is largely dependent on enrollment growth. International students pay more to attend the university than any other segment of the student population.
“We pay around 3,000 dollars per 3 credit hours for the master’s program, not including books, insurance, parking and housing,” Sasank said.
UHCL announced a budget shortfall of $13.9 million in 2017. UHCL’s slow enrollment growth, including a decline in international student enrollment, led to an additional 10 percent budget cut for 2017-18.
“The economic contribution to UHCL and the local community has decreased also,” Dumbre said. “In an analysis by NAFSA for the 2017-2018 academic year, International Students at UHCL contributed $29.4 million and supported 401 jobs. Since enrollment is down for the 2018-2019 academic year, this amount of financial contributions and supported jobs will be [down as well].”
Dumbre also said the UHCL is doing everything it can to improve international enrollment.
“UHCL is using multiple recruitment approaches including: establishing partnerships with international universities, using international recruitment agents, leveraging alumni networks, and recruiting international students already in the U.S.,” Dumbre said.
Aliya Beavers, director of the Student Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office at UHCL, said welcoming students from around the globe gives a higher status to the schools and helps our civilization attain a wide perspective from different nationalities.
“We have all these international students with diverse backgrounds, and it is bringing in different type of thoughts, cultural differences, opinions, separation of things, and connections,” Beavers said. “I think the population of international students are very important. They represent a variety of cultures, religion, just general ways of doing things. They only enhance our environment, and we can make sure that we learn about one another as well.”
