Fewer new foreign students enroll in US colleges for third year

Fewer new foreign students enrolled in U.S. colleges for the third year in a row, according to an annual report released Monday. 

The Institute of International Education found that new foreign student enrollment in the 2018-2019 school year dipped about 1 percent compared to enrollment from the prior school year. It follows a three-year trend of falling foreign enrollment, which The Associated Press reports was the first downturn in more than a decade.

The latest dip is less severe than the 7 percent and 3 percent decreases in the prior two years. 

The State Department, which pays for the annual report, dismissed comments from some school officials who blame the decrease on President Trump’s rhetoric on immigration, the AP reports. 

“What we’ve seen today is a dramatically better picture compared to last year’s declines,” Caroline Casagrande, deputy assistant secretary for academic programs at the department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural affairs, told reporters, according to the AP.  

“The Trump administration has dedicated more resources than ever to international student mobility,” she added.

Casagrande said foreign students are deterred by the high costs of attending U.S. schools.

She also attributed the decline to a fall in applicants during the Obama administration and told reporters the numbers are appearing to rebound under Trump, according to the AP.