Seth Walker remembers the first time a non-U.S. citizen asked him if Indiana was a red or blue state. It was in the fall of 2016, and the associate director of international admissions recruitment at Indiana University was talking to a parent group in the Philippines. Since then, students in countries from Mexico to China have asked the same question.
There is no doubt among recruiters that the current political climate is hurting international student enrollment in U.S. higher education. They're constantly fielding questions from students in other countries about being welcome in the U.S. and how international students are treated.
To address those challenges, IU is doubling down on efforts to make personal connections with potential students. It's meant more time on the road and a lot of late nights, but it shows the university's commitment to international education, said John Wilkerson, director of international admissions at IU.
"Any university that is going to call itself global or world class must see that represented in their student body," he said.
IU's Bloomington campus is certainly living up to that claim, with nearly 8,000 international students enrolled in the fall of 2017. But international enrollment is down about 4 percent from fall 2016. International student applications are down as well, about 16 percent at the undergraduate level and 1.5 percent at the graduate level, compared with this point last year.
Early data from peer institutions show universities in the Midwest, interior West and South will see the biggest declines in international student enrollment in the fall. Shorter flights home and proximity to a beach might play a role, but Wilkerson suspects it has more to do with perceptions about the acceptance of international students in certain parts of the country.
"My sense in talking with peers is that students are more politically aware of the climate within the U.S., and that may be impacting their choice of universities in terms of region," he said.