What lies ahead regarding the postsecondary education landscape in the United States and how might this affect international students? Part 1.

Lumina Scholastic's college counselor Peter Petite reflects on the main concerns that are raging in the international student community about their plans to pursue an education in the US, and how current politics and other aspects can affect this.

International students in USA

To be sure, there is no lack of speculation with some anticipating catastrophe and others little to no change. As one might expect, the reality most likely lies somewhere in between the extremes. I think it is safe to say that, yes, there will be changes, and some of them may be major, but this is not the same thing as saying that these changes will be bad.

I recently heard a short interview with Danielle Holley, the current president of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Mount Holyoke is the oldest all-women’s college in the States, as well as one of the finest small liberal arts colleges in the country. The topic was the changes that could be coming under the new Trump administration. She said that as the head her responsibility is to maintain the integrity of the school and its uncompromising focus on the quality of its undergraduate education. She could not see a reason for compromising the school’s mission, irrespective of who occupies the Oval Office. 

At the same time, she said very matter of factly that if she were the president of an R1 research university, such as Johns Hopkins, Yale, Harvard, and other schools of this sort, she would do whatever might be necessary to maintain the flow of federal grant money that is the lifeblood of the research that occurs at these schools. If this means playing ball with the new administration, the new congress, and other offices, then that is what she would do. This willingness to compromise would most likely be greater at a state RI university, such as Michigan or University of Virginia. Put another way, non-research based schools are much more insulated from the policy changes that could be coming. Small liberal arts colleges have their own challenges, but these are often more immediate to the schools themselves, such as enrollment and budget issues, rather than demands arbitrarily imposed by Washington. Economic considerations aside, smaller private schools may be places of greater educational stability, at least in the immediate future.