Although national trends show that the number of international students in the United States has decreased since the COVID-19 pandemic, Emory University is not being hit hard, according to Vice Dean of Admission Scott Allen.
Late last year, the Pew Research Center reported a 15% decline in international student enrollment among U.S. universities for the 2020-21 academic year.
Chinese students are most affected by this national trend. They comprised the largest proportion of international students in the United States during the 2020-21 academic year at 35%. At Emory, Chinese students comprise 52% of the international undergraduate student body. Nationally, the Chinese international student population decreased by 55,233 students, or 14.8%, during the pandemic.
On Aug. 11, the Wall Street Journal reported that the number of F1 study visa applications — which is a necessary prerequisite for international students to enter the United States — has dropped to 31,055 in the first six months of 2022, which is when most newly admitted fall semester students are preparing to come to the United States. This is a little over half of the 64,261 applications the State Department received in 2019.
Though the exact reason for this decline is unclear, some Emory Chinese students have labeled the United States as a less desirable place to get a college diploma due to the stringent travel restrictions imposed by the Chinese government, rising Asian American hate crimes and political tensions between China and the United States.
Conny Zhou (25C), an international student from Shanghai, China, is studying computer science and mathematics at Emory. He said that COVID-19 added extra pressure to choose the United States as a study destination because of the potential negative outcomes, like discrimination.
“There's still this rumor … that maybe COVID originates from China,” Zhou said. “For Chinese students considering to apply for U.S., during their application process, they might be thinking about if ‘I would be discriminated there, once I came to America,’ because the tension between America and China is really huge right now.”
Edward Shen (22Ox), who is from Zhejiang, China, resonated with Zhou’s thoughts, stating that COVID-19 created “extra difficulties” while applying to colleges in the United States. The pandemic hit during his junior year of high school, which impacted his ability to complete exams required for U.S. universities, such as the SAT and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam.
“Because of COVID, most of the SAT tests got canceled, and a lot of TOEFL test stations were closed down, and the AP test was turned online,” Shen said. “It might be OK for students who were in the US, but it was a different story for students in other time zones. For example, as a student from China, I had to take the test at 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., respectively.”
However, the University seems relatively unaffected by the national trend of decreasing international student populations. In fact, Emory’s international applicant pool increased by about 7.82% during the 2021-22 admissions cycle, jumping from 6,920 students to 7,461, according to an email Allen sent to the Wheel.
The international applicant pool also did not experience a steep decline in applicants during the 2020 admissions cycle. Allen said the number of applicants “stayed the same” as previous years, although the Office of Admission did not respond to the Wheel’s request for specific data.
However, deferral requests increased threefold during the 2020 admissions cycle due to the reluctance of international travel and strict quarantine procedures, Allen noted.
He added that the international application pool was strong throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and this year, stating that relatively well-known private institutions like Emory and flagship public universities with respected names — such as the University of California, Los Angeles — consistently have large application pools due to their reputable brand name when compared to other smaller universities. The national trend of decreasing international students is more reflective of “lesser-known” small universities, Allen said.
There are outside factors like politics and a pandemic that are out of Emory’s control, Allen explained. However, he believes that having seasoned international admissions officers who know their territories well and maintaining a good relationship with schools outside of the United States are key to keeping Emory’s global reputation and presence.
“Sticking to what we do best and representing Emory for what we are known and good for is vital to be unaffected by international affairs and rising competition from other universities to recruit talented students from around the world,” Allen said.
