The number of foreign students studying at American universities and colleges has increased by 40% in the last decade to reach the 1 million mark.
International students are enrolling in American institutions of learning to access quality education. They do not mind paying top dollar to access the best education that the world has to offer!
SelfScore is an American firm that offers financial services to the international learners. Data from the company show that local students studying in public university are paying up to three times less than the international students.
As such, the money received from the international students as tuition fee is being used to subsidize the cost of education for the local learners. Public universities are using the money as bailout from financial difficulties.
International students driving education costs down
In addition to driving the cost of education down for the domestic students, the international learners help the American economy by funding the US tech sector. Therefore, the relationship between the American public learning institutions and the international students is interdependent.
The SelfScore data indicates that foreign students contributed over $9 billion as tuition fees, which was received by American public universities. Therefore, the US public universities generated 28% of their yearly tuition revenue from the international students despite the fact that foreign students only constitute about 12% of the student populace. The same case applies to the private education institutions even though it is difficult to obtain statistics from such organizations.
International students constitute roughly 14% of Arizona State University’s student populace. The domestic undergraduate students pay $10,370 while the non-Arizona American students pay $26,470 as fees and base tuition. Meanwhile, the international undergraduates contribute the highest amount by paying $28,270. All these financial statistics applied during the 2016/2017 academic year.
Foreign learners cannot access student loans
Most international students are forced to self-finance their education. The American financial institutions never recognize the credit histories of the non-American students when they are studying. The banks only consider the financial records of the foreign learners after graduation because they will have become active participants in the US labor market. Thus, foreign learners cannot access student loans and other financial aid.
A large number of foreign students acquire financial help from families and friends. The US Commerce and Education department suggests that some foreign learners are lucky to get financial aid from their home governments.
Most represented countries
The countries with the most international students in US education institutions include China, South Korea, and India as of 2015. Besides helping US public universities and colleges financially, foreign students are holding approximately 373,300 jobs in the US Their participation in the labor market helps the American economy to generate over $30 billion.
