A report from the US Customs and Immigration Student and Exchange Visitor Program states that foreign enrolment declined by almost 18% in USA for M-1 and F-1 student visas. M-1 visas are for students in vocational studies while F-1s are for those in all other programme areas. SEVP’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) held 1.25 million records for students on both F-1 and M-1 visas in 2020, as per ICEFMonitor. 2019 had also seen a decline in foreign student numbers, but a far more marginal one of only 1.7%.

All US Universities that are allowed to accept international students have been SEVP-certified, and all visa-holding students must be registered in SEVP’s web-based records-holding system (SEVIS). A dramatic drop in international commencements was the most significant factor affecting overall enrolment in the US last year. There were 72% fewer new international students in 2020 as a result of drastic decreases in new enrolments in August and September. In August, new international students on F-1 visas fell by 91% and those on M-1 visas fell by 72%. The effect of COVID is very apparent in the August/September intake since the pre-pandemic January 2020 intake had been comparable to enrolment levels from January 2019. Optional Practical Training (OPT) enrolments fell by 12% (compared with a decline of 4% in 2019). Together, bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes enrol 76% of all degree-seeking international students in the US, while doctoral programmes account for 16%.

Nigeria, the most important African market, sent 10.9% fewer students than in 2019 for a total of 17,237 students in 2020. China and India, sent 91,936 (-19.4%) and 41,761 (-16.8%) fewer students in 2020, respectively. In 2019, the declines from these countries were a relatively modest -4,230 and -2,070 respectively. South Korea sent 18.9% fewer students and Japan sent 10,897 fewer students (-29.3%). Asian students continue to make up the lion’s share of international students in the US: 74% of the total.
Saudi Arabia, the fourth largest sender of students, sent 15,244 fewer students (-28.6%).
European countries sent 20.8% fewer students in 2020, and the two most significant markets from this region, Germany and France, fell by 28.5% and 24.1%, respectively.

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