Enrollment is up across the 64 campus SUNY system this coming academic year. It’s the second year in a row there’s been an enrollment increase, the first time that’s happened in 15 years. But behind the positive numbers are some concerns.
“The one worry is international students,” said SUNY Chancellor John King. “For us at SUNY, that's about 6% of our overall enrollment, but at some individual institutions like the University at Buffalo, it's closer to 20%.”
King said more complicated visa policies and travel bans imposed by the Trump administration can combine to make it more likely international students forgo an education at a U.S. college or university.
“There was a point last year where we had about 50 students whose visas were revoked without explanation,” King said. “Then they were restored without explanation.”
Right now, King said it’s hard to say at this point whether fewer international students will come to the U.S. to attend SUNY schools.
“We've admitted the students, they've said they want to come, but we won't know until we're into September whether they've actually come,” he said. “And we're worried that some families may look at things that are going on in the United States, the hostility of the administration in Washington to international students and just decide it's not right for them.”
King said if this kind of uncertainty eats into international enrollment, it’s a huge loss.
“International students enrich the academic environment on our campuses and historically, international students have played a very large role in technology innovation in the United States.”
