Trade War is Affecting Chinese Students and American Universities

American visa regulatory authorities are now keeping a close eye on international students, especially from China, who desire to experience college life in America.

19-year old Vivian is one of them, who faced several background checks and questioning during her interview at U.S. Consulate. She won a scholarship of summer school at the University of California, Berkeley, one of the world’s leading engineering schools in the United States.

But her major in aerospace engineering made it difficult to pass an interview at US Consulate, while she didn’t even apply to study aerospace engineering and she only wanted to take a two-month computer course, and It took a month to get a guarantee from the university.

She faced some restrictions too, as not being able to utilize any technical resources offered by the university during her stay due to some security issues.

Politics finding its way to Academic Institutions

In 2018, United States decreased the duration of visas of international students, studying in programs like aviation, robotics, and advanced manufacturing from 5 years to 1 year, citing the risk of espionage and theft of intellectual property.

Also, the US is taking measures to train university administration to identify spies working as students which will result in decreasing a greater number of international students coming to the US.

Share of Chinese International Students in the Economy

Chinese students contribute 35 billion to the US economy which is due to Chinese parents want to invest in quality education for their children and spend thousands of dollars on their international study expenses. This national income is being affected negatively by treating international students unfairly.

One international student pays more than 37,000 $ in fees alone, considering the number of students, the US is losing huge revenue just because of their hostile political environment with China.

The number of international Chinese students is quadrupled in recent years. More and more Chinese students want to pursue subjects like mathematics, business, and physics abroad, but according to stats, many of them are preferring other Universities over the institutions in the US.

Reasons why International Students are Reconsidering their Study Plans

According to statistics, many students are not choosing to study in the US, is because of the visa application process. It takes too much time for international students to get visas or even after all the process, rejection is expected too.

Other reasons include gun violence, the perception of common people toward foreigners, and securing a job in the US after graduation to pay off student loans.

What to Expect in 2020?

A major effect on Chinese students is a result of policies and rules implemented by the administration. We just have to wait for the next election in America if we want to see some change. Meanwhile, policies are expected to intensify in 2020 if the government doesn’t change.

On the other hand, we can see universities are already planning to enroll as many international students as possible before any new policy gets implemented on this issue.