Tat Hidano still gets the usual questions when hes overseas recruiting international students to Wichita State University. The big one: Where is Wichita?
But lately Hidano has been hearing another question: Will I be safe in the United States?
The questions about safety in the United States have been dominant, Hidano said. He says his job has begun to feel less like recruiting and more like diplomacy.
Universities across Kansas saw enrollment by international students who often pay higher tuition drop significantly last year, placing a further strain on already tight higher education budgets. At Wichita State, a 10 percent drop in the number of degree-bound international students on campus last fall left a nearly $1 million hole in the universitys budget.
Excluding a brief period after the September 11, 2001, attacks, international enrollment in the U.S. has grown consistently for decades.
The decline is especially pronounced at Midwestern schools that lack the name recognition and appeal of more prestigious coastal institutions.
I dont think the NYUs and the Harvards and the Yales of the world have anything to worry about but its other instutions that may not be as globally known, said Rajika Bhandari, head of research and policy at the Institute of International Education.
New enrollments dropped about 7 percent for fall 2016 and universities reported that drop continued in fall 2017, though Bhandari says its too soon to tell if its a blip or a trend.
Since the 2016 presidential campaign and the start of the Trump administration, some students appear to be thinking twice about studying abroad in the U.S.
If you have an administration that is sending signals to immigrants within this country and sending an America first message, which can be easily perceived as America only, its not surprising that students are re-evaluating whether this is the place where theyll be able to achieve their academic dream, said Jill Welsh, the deputy executive director of public policy at the non-profit National Association of Foreign Student Advisers.
The fear factor
Pooja Odedra came from India initially intending to study at American University in Washington, D.C., and then transferred to Butler Community College partly because tuition at the two-year school near Wichita was cheaper, but also because of the harassment she says she experienced just walking down the street in Washington.
Odedra says Kansas has been kinder, but comments like, you dont deserve to be here and youll be sent back soon anyway have stuck with her.
It does make me feel insecure and question if I should be here, if some other country would be better, she said.
Odedra is still interested in working in media in the United States, but she is concerned about whether she would be able to get a work visa.
