More than 6 million people are currently studying abroad. Most are students from developing countries, seeking an education in top destinations like the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and Australia. For decades, host country governments have welcomed these students as a boon for universities and communities.
Advocates argue that international students help subsidize local education by paying higher fees, while broadening the experience of domestic students. Those who return home help spread the host culture across the world. Others stay and work in skilled occupations in the host country, helping to reinvigorate local communities.
That welcome now seems in jeopardy, for a number of reasons. Some governments have begun to impose new restrictions on foreign students. Here are some of the latest developments.
Tighter scrutiny in the U.K. and the Netherlands
After a lengthy review, the U.K. Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) last week recommended retaining the current post-study work visa program, which allows international students to seek employment in the U.K. for two years after graduation. University leaders welcomed the news, warning that scrapping the visa would cause financial havoc in a sector already facing declining international enrollment.
However, the current U.K. government may yet decide to impose further restrictions. Home Secretary James Cleverly had ordered the review amid growing Conservative party complaints that international students were abusing the visa option in ways that boosted low-skilled immigration to the U.K.
A report co-authored by former immigration minister and Conservative MP Robert Jenrick criticized the country’s reliance on international students. The report also claimed the rapid growth in the number of international students was crowding British students out of many top universities. Meanwhile, the Dutch government released a long-awaited bill this month to reduce the number of international students by requiring more Dutch-language courses and limiting English-language instruction.
International students contribute to the local economy
In countries like the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, international students typically pay significantly more for their studies than domestic students. That factor alone helps make the economic case for facilitating, not limiting, international student exchange. The higher fees indirectly subsidize the lower costs of education for domestic students.
International students also spend money on housing, transportation, entertainment, and food, and thus help boost the local economy. NAFSA: Association of International Educators, for instance, estimates that international students contributed over $40 billion to the U.S. economy and supported nearly 370,000 U.S. jobs in the 2022-2023 academic year.
U.S. universities have long been a top draw for students around the globe. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the U.S. hosted more than 1 million international students, about half of them from China or India. The Trump administration’s earlier attempts to tighten U.S. immigration laws included some measures targeting foreign students. More recently, nativist groups have called for reducing the number of foreign students, arguing that the ongoing anti-Israel protests have been particularly strong on U.S. campuses with the highest percentages of foreign students.
However, the economic case may be weaker in Germany and other European countries that subsidize education for all students, regardless of their origin. Germany’s big open secret, in fact, is a long-standing tradition of effectively free public higher education for all, including international students from outside the European Union. This approach, however, also means that international students do not generate additional revenue for universities.
The pushback in Canada and Australia
Even more so than the United States, Canada and Australia have generally welcomed skilled migrants and have high foreign-born populations. But many Canadians and Australians now blame the influx of international students for higher rents and housing shortages. In 2023, the number of international students in Canada exceeded 1 million for the first time, prompting the government to impose a two-year cap on study permit applications. The government anticipated a 35% drop in approved study permits in 2024, “to stabilize the number of international students in Canada.” Canadian universities rely heavily on tuition from international students, however, and worry that prospective students will now choose to study elsewhere, leading to significant financial losses for Canadian institutions.
Australia is expected to implement similar caps soon. A similar set of concerns has been on the rise, with more and more Australian voters believing that the current number of international students puts unsustainable pressure on the housing market.
In response, the Australian government is considering legislation to cap new international student places, allowing increased international student numbers only if education providers build additional student accommodations. However, not everyone agrees that international students are the primary cause of the housing crisis. Some experts point to inadequate housing policies and other factors as more significant contributors to the problem.
Are international students immigrants? The definitions can become political.
The housing strain is not the only reason why international students can become a target for politicians. The U.K. is a prime example of how a country’s success in attracting international students can lead to unintended political consequences. As in the U.S., international students in the U.K. pay significantly higher fees for their studies, effectively subsidizing domestic students.
Foreign students, who account for about 24% of the U.K. student population, are now tangled up in the controversies over U.K. immigration policies. One of the reasons is the seemingly unrelated decisions by U.K. bureaucrats to classify international students as immigrants while reporting the government’s net migration targets. In 2010, limiting new migration became a signature policy of the Conservative party – and the government’s net migration targets now include international students.
The ongoing crackdown on foreign students in the U.K. is thus arguably part of the unpopular Conservative government’s efforts to win back voters by slashing immigration numbers. The U.K. must hold elections soon – by the end of January 2025. The government may find it easier to appeal to voters by limiting student numbers, versus targeting other immigration categories.
But are international students actually immigrants? Unfortunately, this simple question does not have a definitive answer. There are arguments both for counting and not counting international students as immigrants. If international students are in a host country only for a few years before going back to their home countries, it seems reasonable to distinguish them from permanent immigrants. Of course, in reality, many choose to stay, so it makes sense to think of some international students as potential immigrants.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics includes international students in its immigration estimates if they reside in the U.K. for 12 months or more. That’s consistent with the standard international definition of long-term migration. And this also aligns with how most other countries – including by the Census Bureau in the United States – calculate demographic statistics.
However, most countries don’t designate international students as immigrants for the purposes of official communications such as those related to the U.K.’s “net migration targets.” In fact, the U.S. government categorizes international students as foreigners on “non-immigrant” temporary visas akin to other visitors, even if they technically reside in the U.S. for more than 12 months. This approach effectively excludes international students from most commonly reported immigration statistics.
Will anti-immigration populism dampen international educational opportunities?
Needless to say, the case for or against limiting the number of international students should not depend on how they are classified or reported in the official statistics. That is why it is not surprising that a number of U.K. MPs have urged the government to exclude students from the reported net migration statistics, or at least exclude them from the government’s net migration target goals.
Government policies play a crucial role in shaping the impact of international study and migration more generally. Even skeptics might agree that there are more effective ways to regulate the exchange of international students. Clearly, the high demand for studying abroad in U.S. and U.K. universities signifies an important strength of higher education and the desirability of those countries in general. It is thus not surprising that the public generally views international students favorably in these countries.
But concerns related to international students don’t exist in a vacuum. The success of international student exchange also depends on other issues like immigration and housing policies. It is not a coincidence that the presence of foreign students has generated controversy in countries with high levels of housing regulation. It is also no coincidence that this foreign student-housing connection has become especially significant in Canada and Australia. These countries experienced a pause and then a significant bump in foreign students in the aftermath of covid-19 restrictions. Foreign students haven’t generated similar controversy in Germany, despite the fact that taxpayers subsidize their studies. In fact, the German government is expanding work opportunities for foreign students.
Ultimately, the increasingly heated debate around international students says more about the general politics and policies in the host countries than about the international students themselves or their possible contributions. With the right policies on housing and immigration in place, international students can continue being an unquestionable boon for their host countries.
Alex Kustov is a 2024-2025 Good Authority fellow.
