According to US Department of Commerce, international students contributed USD 44 billion to the US economy in 2019, including USD 7.69 billion contributed by the Indian students. India remained the second largest source of international students, despite a 4.4 per cent decline to 193,124 students, against 5.3 percent growth in 2017-18 (FY18) at 196,271 and 2.92 percent in 2018-19 (FY19) at 202,014. Indian students contributed USD 7.69 billion to the US economy in the academic year 2019-20.

China remained the largest source of international students in the US, with the number of Chinese students in the country increasing for the 16th consecutive year. There were over 372,000 Chinese students in the U.S. for 2019-20 year, said the report “Opens Doors 2020.” Released annually, the ‘Open Doors Report on IIE’ depicts trends around international students in the US as well as US students studying abroad and is sponsored by the US Department of State with funding provided by the US government.

According to the report, released by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education (IIE), for the fifth consecutive year, the United States hosted more than 1 million international students (1,075,496) in an academic year.

Despite a slight decline (1.8 percent) in the number of international students in the United States during the 2019-20 academic year, this group still represents 5.5 percent of all students in US higher education system.

Since the total number of international students in the US also includes those working on optional practical training (OPT), experts believe that the decline in Indian students is defective of three years. The OPT period is for three years for students from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) background.

The Trump administration said four months back in July that foreign university students will have to leave the country if their classes are all taught online, clouding the future of tens of thousands of enrollees and potentially straining budgets of schools struggling to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic.

The immigration order is likely to affect just a fraction of the total number of students. Nevertheless, two top universities in the US went to court to try to stop it.

“The decrease had started with Trump’s rise to power and the sentiments turning negative due to the constant rhetoric. This, coupled with Canada turning more immigrant-friendly, had many students moving to Canada,” said Sumeet Jain, co-founder, and higher education expert, Yocket.

On a recruiting trip to India’s tech hub, Bangalore, Alan Cramb, the president of the reputable Chicago University, answered questions not just about dorms or tuition but also on American work visas.

The session with parents fell in the chaotic first months of Donald Trump’s presidency. After an inaugural address proclaiming “America first,” two travel bans, a suspended refugee program and hints at restricting skilled worker visas widely used by Indians, parents doubted their children’s futures in the U.S.

Trump has arguably changed the immigration system more than any other U.S. president, thrilling supporters with a nationalist message and infuriating critics who call the approach to his signature issue insular, xenophobic and even racist.

Roughly 5.3 million students study outside their home countries, a number that has more than doubled since 2001. But the U.S. share dropped from 28% in 2001 to 21% last year, according to the Association of International Educators, or NAFSA.

The Trump administration had floated the idea of curtailing Optional Practical Training, a popular program allowing international students to work. Roughly 223,000 participated in 2018-19, according to the Institute of International Education.

Nearly 60% of U.S. colleges reported that the social and political environment contributed to the decline in number of new international students, according a 2019 Institute of International Education survey.

Most colleges in the survey said that the difficulty in obtaining U.S. visas was also to blame. Student visas issued under Trump shrunk 42%, from nearly 700,000 in 2015 to under 400,000 last year, according to the State Department.

“We are encouraged to see a fifth year of more than 1 million international students in the United States before the pandemic,” said Marie Royce, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. “International student mobility is as important today as ever, and we believe the United States is the best destination for students to study and earn their degrees. Education is a pathway to a greater future and international educational exchange has the power to transform students’ trajectories,” Royce said.

There was a seven percent increase in students from Bangladesh, four percent from Brazil, and three percent from Nigeria. These countries were among the top 20 places of origin, counted as the largest percentage increase in student numbers while Saudi Arabia saw the largest percentage decrease (- 17 percent) primarily due to changes in its government’s scholarship program.

At 18 percent, the Indian student population in the US is second only to China, which forms nearly 35 percent of the total international students studying in the US. Incidentally, India is not the only country to witness a dip in students in the US. While Chinese students in the US rose marginally by 0.8 percent in FY20 over the previous year at 372,532, South Korea fell by 4.7 percent to 49,809 students to the US.

The author is a student member of Amity Centre of Happiness