International students are turning away from the United States and Britain in favour of universities in Asia and continental Europe, a global survey showed on Thursday, as tighter visa rules redraw the map of higher education.
Britain and the United States recorded the steepest drops in international undergraduate numbers, down 19 percent and 13 percent respectively in the October-to-August period compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the survey of 437 universities in 63 countries conducted by Studyportals, NAFSA and the Oxford Test of English.
Canada and Australia also saw weaker demand, while universities in Asia and Europe reported stronger international enrolment growth, the survey found. Studyportals is a Netherlands-based student recruitment platform, NAFSA is a U.S.-based nonprofit that advocates for international education, and the Oxford Test of English is run by Oxford University Press.
The survey found that visa restrictions and government policies were the biggest barriers to recruitment, with processing delays, tougher screening and changes to post-study work rules prompting students to defer or abandon plans to enrol.
U.S. institutions were the most pessimistic about the outlook, with more than a third expecting enrolments to decline further in the coming years. The survey was conducted before the November 3 midterm elections in which Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, although the president retains executive authority over visa rules.
