Of the hundreds of thousands of young adults heading to varsity this fall, many can be international students. If trends proceed, about 1 million students from around the globe will come to the United States this yr to pursue a better education.
These young scientists have an ideal economic impact. In total they pump greater than 40 billion US dollars into the US economy and secure over 368,000 jobs. It's not only paying professors and buying textbooks—it includes all the pieces from apartment rent to late-night DoorDash and Grubhub deliveries. And it's near an all-time high.
In fact, higher education is the Tenth largest export of the USAbased on the US Bureau of Economic Analysis – except that the export is definitely an import of scholars from all around the world.
Think of it this manner: when you went to Paris this yr to look at the Olympic Games, the Olympic Games were the export that brought you – the tourist or, in economic terms, the import – to France. In the complex world of Economic trade balanceinternational students are the tourists who visit US campuses.
Only economists can imagine that learning and exams are a form of vacation.
While China, India and South Korea send most students to the USA, young people come from all around the world to get their degrees here. Last yr, there have been several 221 nations and territoriesincluding three students from the independent island state of Tuvalu.
A blessing for the local economy
Each of America's 50 largest cities has at the least one college or university with international students on campus. For these communities, international learners provide a really welcome financial aid package.
Think of Boston. With its pantheon of venerable institutions – including Boston University, where I teach multinational finance and trade – the region has greater than 50 colleges and universities. Boston’s economic advantages from the greater than 60,000 international students at these schools are enormous: some 2.7 billion dollars.
Or have a look at Greater Philadelphia. The region’s universities rank fifth nationwide in attracting students from all around the world. From the University of Pennsylvania, which is a top performer yearly – even in the highest 25 for international students – or the more specialized Curtis Institute of MusicTogether, they’ll expect to host nearly 17,000 international students in fall 2024.
Prestigious private schools are one draw, but the most important draw for international students is undoubtedly state universities and colleges. Of the highest schools within the country that enrolled these students last yr, 32 were state colleges and universities, attracting a complete of over 240,000 students.
At the three largest public institutions alone – Arizona State University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of California, Berkeley – international students have donated nearly $1.6 billion and created nearly 16,900 jobs. If you extrapolate that to the highest 10 – the University of California takes 4 of those spots – the numbers rise to $4.5 billion and 47,900 jobs.
Bringing the world to Mankato
But it's not only the geographically sprawling University of California and other large state systems. Mankato, Minnesota, is home to a campus of Minnesota State University; within the 2022 academic yr, around 1,700 international students called this small town, 80 miles from Minneapolis, their second home.
These students brought $44.9 million to the community and supported about 190 jobs. There are dozens of comparable campuses in cities and towns like Mankato across the country. That adds up quickly.
In addition to non-public and public universities Adult education centers also attract 1000’s of international students. Although their international enrollment has declined lately, community colleges still barely attracted 53,600 international students in 2023 with China, Vietnam and Japan tops the list.
Some generate 1.5 billion US dollars and 6,620 jobsthey’ve a serious economic impact – especially in Texas, California and Florida, where the vast majority of these students come to check.
One thing is for certain: whether or not they attend community colleges in small towns or Ivie universities in big cities, international students have a “high” economic impact.
image credit : theconversation.com