Covid-19 Insights: International Education (Part 1)

Deirdre Mendez, Director, Center for Global Business

• Current Status: The pandemic has impacted international education dramatically. Travel restrictions, flight cancellations, and government quarantine requirements caused institutions worldwide to recall students from international programs under urgent, and often chaotic, conditions. Some have not yet reclaimed their belongings from their host countries, and those who returned home before end of the educational cycle had to finish courses online. Many full-time students completing degree programs abroad returned home and are currently waiting to hear whether they will be able to return to finish their degrees.
• Colleges and university program resources were badly stretched as staff worked to repatriate students on short notice during the spring, and they face large financial losses due to partial spring refunds and cancelled summer programs. These strains have been even greater for independent study abroad providers, whose revenue comes entirely from study abroad programs.
• Moving Forward: While nearly all summer abroad programs have been cancelled, fall prospects are less clear. One question is whether institutions will reopen physically in the fall. For those that do, student exchange programs may not resume unless both partners can send equal numbers of students. (Because students pay tuition at their home schools and receive tuition-free instruction from partner institutions, the number of students going in each direction must balance for financial reciprocity.) Independent providers with their own faculties and staff abroad have the advantage of being less reliant on external partners.
• The effect of cancellations goes beyond abroad programs themselves. Degree programs with international experience requirements must decide whether to waive them or propose alternatives for students who cannot travel before graduating.
• Longer-Term Concerns: The possibility that COVID-19 recurrence will again limit travel or cause cancellations continues to hamper decision making by everyone involved. Air travel is predicted to become less reliable and convenient. A March 20 visa suspension by the US State Department, still in effect, further obscures the feasibility of reopening programs. In the face of massive losses and single revenue streams, small independent providers may be unable to ride out the downturn. And even if programs reopen, families may not be willing to take the chance that students will be infected or stranded abroad.
• Exchange and independent programs are not the only consideration. Full-time international students account for nearly 20 percent of enrollment in US universities and pay high tuition fees. Losing them would be financially damaging to institutions, and it would deprive US students of exposure to other cultures.
• Important Variables: Diverse factors will affect outcomes. Institutions must first decide whether to host on-campus classes. They must then choose whether to accept both full-time international students and exchange students, in collaboration with their exchange partner. All these determinations will depend on whether governments decide to accept incomers, visa availability and processing speed, and quarantine requirements for visitors. Parents and students will in turn assess the risks associated with a possible recurrence of the virus.
• Analyst Assessment: Due to the wide range of variables, few predictions are being made at this time, although it is generally agreed that international programs will suffer significantly through 2020. Programs that plan to move ahead are seeing a downturn in applications.
• Innovations: Educators are discussing ways to convey cultural learning without travel. Some programs are pivoting to online forms of engagement and virtual exchanges that facilitate interaction among students in multiple locations.
• Personal Note: Academic units here at UT are exploring a variety of options, including virtual exchange. At the McCombs School of Business, we are facilitating alternative forms of cultural engagement for students unable to fulfill study abroad requirements due to cancellations.