The Red and Blue Effect: Predicting New International Students by 2016 U.S. Presidential Election Outcomes

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Ten
  In Roundtable Session: The Consequences Becoming an Engaged "Citizen" in Higher Education (Table 13)

Abstract

For the first time in U.S. higher education history, new international student enrollment at four-year U.S. institutions declined for the second consecutive year during 2017-2018 . Many studies have investigated why international students pursue higher education in the U.S. However, no extant research has explored how U.S. politics—most notably the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election—may affect the number of new international students studying in the U.S. Using institutional-level fixed effects approaches, this study finds new international student enrollment declined after the 2016 Presidential Election at many institutions in Republican-voting counties, while new international student enrollment remained steady or increased at institutions in Democratic-voting counties. Implications for research, practice, and international education in the United States is addressed.

Authors

• Ibrahim Bicak, University of Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Zach Taylor, University of Southern Mississippi
  Presenting Author