International students graduating from American universities in the pandemic face a host of challenges — travel restrictions, visa uncertainties, xenophobia and a struggling job market are just some of the things making life as a foreign student difficult. But beyond the class of 2020, Covid-19 will probably deter future international enrolment, costing US higher education and the broader economy billions of dollars.
Fees collected from international students have become an important source of funding for universities. According to the Department of Education, tuition accounted for more than 20 per cent of all university funding in the 2017-18 school year — the largest category of all revenue streams.
International students typically pay higher tuition fees: at public universities, that means paying out-of-state tuition, which can be more than twice the instate fee. At private universities, where international students are usually ineligible for financial aid, the difference in fees can be even greater.