For Canadian-American Kristin Clay, cost was a significant factor when she chose Aalborg University in Denmark for a master's degree in culture, communication and globalization after completing her bachelor’s degree at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida.

“I ... felt like I couldn't afford to [study] in the States,” she told VOA. Her degree in Denmark cost her around $3,000 per semester, she said.

The average cost of tuition and fees at a U.S. college or university is around $25,000 a year, while more exclusive schools charge up to $70,000 in annual tuition and fees. A degree from one of those schools might garner a graduate better opportunities and income over time.

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The higher education industry in the U.S. faced documented evidence of daunting competition from other countries in 2018 that offer lower tuition, immigration pathways and less controversy for international students.

International student enrollment at American universities has leveled for the second academic year while it is gaining in other countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, according to the Institute for International Education, which releases an annual report about the state of higher education in the U.S.

SEE ALSO:

US Losing Its Luster for Foreign Students

​Colleges and universities in the U.S. must take more seriously the high cost of American higher education for all students, domestic and international, said Esther Brimmer, CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

“This is a larger question about how the United States makes higher education available for everybody, for Americans, as well as for international students and scholars,” she said.

“And so continued efforts to try to enhance affordability to try to enhance access to try to find additional ways to help students pay for their higher education are really important issues that we as a nation have to address.”

The U.S. remains the top destination in the world for more than 1 million visiting students, who bring $42 billion and 450,000 jobs to the U.S. economy, according to the State Department.

International education

But U.S. higher education costs are far higher than those in competing countries.

In the Netherlands, annual tuition fees for a degree program are around 1,900 euros for European Union students and 6,000 euros for non-EU students, depending on the institution, according to topuniversities.com.

Additionally, grant money is available to non-EU students. The University of Amsterdam offers “excellence” scholarships for 25,000 euros that covers tuition, fees and living expenses.

“Students will be selected on the basis of academic excellence, ambition and relevance for a student’s future career.”

And in Germany, non-EU students will pay around $3,500 per year.

And in addition to low tuition costs, universities in Germany and other countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands boast various programs all taught in English. In Canada, pathways to immigration are less restrictive and less contentious than in the U.S.

“In Germany the tuition is absolutely, like dirt cheap. It's cheaper than in India,” said Akshay Chaturvedi, founder and CEO of Leverage, an Indian organization that helps students find the right degree program for them.

Leverage has helped over 1,500 Indian students pursue higher education at universities outside of India. Chaturvedi noted that in the last ten years, graduate programs in Europe and China have heavily increased marketing programs to students which, unlike American programs, do not require work experience.

The work experience required by American MBA programs often has to be specific to American businesses - and most international students have not had the opportunity to work for an American company before studying there.

“Europe, very, very carefully has over the last couple of years, filled the space for people in China and India of doing these programs where work experience is not required,” Chaturvedi said.

China has become a strong competitor to schools in the U.S.

“I applied to a couple of schools in Asia, a couple in Europe and two schools, one in the U.S. and one in Canada,” said Kashish Yadav, who worked for Costco before pursuing a master’s in business administration at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai.

“It had the lowest tuition fee … and since I wanted to work in retail, China is already studying new retail technology,” which Yadav said is not yet available to study in the United States or most universities in Europe.

International student enrollment has increased drastically in China in the past decade. In 2008, China set a goal to host half a million international students by 2020. But they hit their goal three years early, according to NAFSA.

US immigration concerns

Another reason Yadav cited was “uncertainty” with U.S. visa laws and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

President Donald Trump’s travel ban on seven countries -- five of them Muslim-majority -- poses practical challenges for students, educators said.

“For students who are currently enrolled, one of the concerns was that when the actual travel ban was announced, there were students who were outside the country who thought they might not be able to get back into the country,” Brimmer said.

According to NAFSA, many international students choose to stay in the U.S. instead of visit their home countries this summer, fearing they would not be able to re-enter.

Anti-immigrant rhetoric, too, has caused prospective students to consider other countries for higher education.

“Many international students and scholars may have been concerned seeing some of these activities, the rhetoric and the atmosphere of the past couple years, which has been critical of people from outside of the country has created an atmosphere that may be seen as very negative,” Brimmer said.

Chaturvedi said that many of his students, who are not affected by the travel ban, are still wary of regulations on international students, student visas, and work visas that the Trump administration has proposed.

“The perception that has been created is a little mad,” Chaturvedi said.

“The perception is going out that he's against Latinos, he's against Indians, he's against brown people, and because of all the shootings that has spooked people more than the actual rules,” he said. While statistically low, news of violence on college campuses spreads fast and wide to the international community.

But American institutions and universities are working to combat some of the factors that may tempt students to choose other universities.

“We should note the real efforts by people across the U.S. to welcome international students and scholars - people working at colleges and universities but also local communities that really value having people from around the world in their communities and have gone out of their way as host families to welcome international students and scholars,” Brimmer said.

Even if some students are wary of a changing rhetoric toward immigrants in the United States, they are not deterred from studying here.

Santiago Lopez Alvarez chose Rice University in Texas to pursue a graduate degree as a Fulbright scholar because they reached out to him personally. Had the university not contacted him directly, he said, he would not have considered Texas for graduate school.

“I had major hesitations,” he told VOA during his orientation week at Rice.

“At first I thought that everybody down the street was going to have guns…I thought Texas was going to be very conservative,” he said.

“But I think it’s great that I ended up coming here because life teaches you that stereotypes and prejudice are always overturned,” he said, calling Houston an “oasis” of friendly and welcoming people.

It’s tough to gain admission to Yale University, and it’s getting even tougher for international students as standout students from around the world set their sights on Yale.

The Yale Dale News, the campus newspaper, takes a look at the situation here.

Read the full story here.

Ruth Chane, a computer science major from Ethiopia, writes about her experiences settling into student life at Whitman College in the U.S. state of Washington.

"The community at Whitman College made sure I felt welcomed even before I stepped foot on campus," she says.

Read her essay here.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.

STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)

U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.

Read the full story here. (January 2025)

US News & World Report details the three top factors in foreign students' decision to study in the U.S. They include research opportunities and the reputation of U.S. degrees. Read the full story here. (December 2024)

A British student who did a year abroad at Bowling Green State University in Ohio talks about adjusting to life in America in a TikTok video, Newsweek magazine reports.

Among the biggest surprises? Portion sizes, jaywalking laws and dorm room beds.

Read the full story here. (December 2024)

Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health reaches out to international students by detailing the international student experience at the school.

Learn more about housing, life in Boston and more here.

China issued its first national action plan to build a "strong education nation" by 2035, which it said would help coordinate its education development, improve efficiencies in innovation and build a "strong country."

The plan, issued Sunday by the Communist Party's central committee and the State Council, aims to establish a "high quality education system" with accessibility and quality "among the best in the world."

The announcement was made after data on Friday showed China's population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, with the number of deaths outpacing a slight increase in births, and experts cautioning that the downturn will worsen in the coming years.

High childcare and education costs have been a key factor for many young Chinese opting out of having children, at a time when many face uncertainty over their job prospects amid sluggish economic growth.

"By 2035, an education power will be built," the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that China would explore gradually expanding the scope of free education, increase "high-quality" undergraduate enrolment, expand postgraduate education, and raise the proportion of doctoral students.

The plan aims to promote "healthy growth and all-round development of students," making sure primary and secondary school students have at least two hours of physical activity daily, to effectively control the myopia, or nearsightedness, and obesity rates.

"Popularizing" mental health education and establishing a national student mental health monitoring and early warning system would also be implemented, it said.

It also aims to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas to improve the operating conditions of small-scale rural schools and improve the care system for children with disabilities and those belonging to agricultural migrant populations.

The plan also aims to steadily increase the supply of kindergarten places and the accessibility of preschool education.

The Open Notebook, a site focusing on educating journalists who cover science, has complied a list of U.S. graduate program financial aid information for international students.

Read it here.