The Biden administration said Tuesday (April 27) that it will ease travel restrictions on Chinese and other international students entering the United States this fall. The change could provide a financial boost to some U.S. universities that have seen enrollment plummet during the coronavirus pandemic.
The State Department said in a statement that it is extending the national interest waiver to students and scholars around the world as of Aug. 1. The State Department made the change for students from Europe in March of this year.
Reuters first reported on the U.S. government’s plan to announce this measure for Chinese students. Chinese students are the largest group of international students in the United States. According to the International Educational Exchange (IEE), about 35 percent of international students will come from China in the 2019-2020 academic year, almost twice as many as students from India, which is in second place.
The U.S. government has banned most non-U.S. citizens who have traveled to China, Brazil, South Africa, Iran and most of Europe in the past two weeks due to the New Crown outbreak. Now, students from all of these countries are eligible to enter the U.S. for fall classes.
In a November 2020 report, International Education Exchange said 372,000 Chinese nationals are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities during the 2019-20 academic year.
According to the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, higher education enrollment declined by 2.5 percent overall in fall 2020, almost double the enrollment decline reported in fall 2019.
In January 2020, then-President Donald Trump imposed the first restrictions, banning nearly all non-U.S. citizens in China from entering the country.
U.S. universities have been urging the State Department to take this step before international students must make admissions decisions.
The American Council on Education (ACE) has been urging the Biden administration to act quickly. In a letter last month, the agency said the move would “send a welcoming message to current and prospective international students, which helps restore the United States as a destination of choice and supports an important economic activity as the U.S. economy recovers from the new coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the announcement, officials are “closely monitoring the status and trajectory of the pandemic,” an administration official said.
It is unclear whether U.S. universities or the U.S. government will recognize vaccines given to Chinese students that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some U.S. schools require students to be fully vaccinated before resuming face-to-face classroom instruction.
Another big issue is that first-time applicants for student visas must be interviewed at U.S. embassies and consulates. The State Department said Tuesday that it “continues to seek ways to process more visa applications based on science-based guidance from health authorities.”
The American Council on Education cited a study that said the overall economic impact of international students fell by $1.8 billion in the 2019-20 academic year from $40.5 billion the previous year.
This report from the International Education Exchange says the economic impact of Chinese students on the U.S. is estimated at $15.9 billion in the 2019 academic year.
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