When I wrote this article, the first recorded instance of the person-to-person spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the U.S. took place in January 2020. I also met an International Student, Sunil Pandey from Nepal, who asked me to help his father and offer insight on his LinkedIn profile.

I learned of the changes that the Pandemic was already having on international students and did some research to learn more. I found that the influences of International students make up 5.5 percent of the total U.S. higher education population. According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, international students contributed $44.7 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018, an increase of 5.5 percent from the previous year.

A ranking of the top 15 countries in 2018 shows the following: the top-ranked countries are Mainland China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Nepal, Iran, Nigeria, United Kingdom.

An article in WENR World Education News + Reviews asks: “Was It Worth It? The article also asked about International Student’s Views on the value of their U.S. Education”. The student’s perception of their U.S. education experience was: “The overwhelming majority of international alumni indicated that their U.S. degree was a good investment, partly because of high social and cultural returns.

Alums are benefiting from the increased internationalization on U.S. campuses. Most respondents indicated that their education expanded their global perspective and enhanced their ability to get along with people of different backgrounds, suggesting the development of intercultural and academic competencies. In addition to noting these social returns, respondents said their problem-solving skills improved as part of the well-rounded education they received in the United States.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic and the changing political climate, there has been concern about the future of the United States as an international educational destination. In a reversal of current policy, the federal government announced in mid-July 2020 that they would allow international students to stay in the U.S. while taking only online classes. On Tuesday, the Trump administration took back recent guidance that would have deported international college and university students if they enrolled exclusively in online courses this fall.

The reason for the change back in policy hopefully was done because it became clear it was the right thing to do. Of course, it seems logical that it also mattered that 20 states, the District of Columbia, and about two dozen universities filed various lawsuits to block the policy change from going into effect. Also, Harvard and MIT argued in their case that the July 6 directive reflected an effort by the government to force universities to reopen despite the continuing dangers posed by the coronavirus pandemic.