Excerpt from the Wright State Guardian
Wright State University’s international student numbers significantly increased during the fall 2021 semester after a steady decline.
Student enrollment at WSU has declined overall according to public records with a small overall increase during the fall 2021 semester. Public records show that the largest increase in enrollment comes from new international students.
There were 856 total new international students between both Dayton and Lake campuses during the fall 2021 semester. This is the largest number of new international students in a single semester since spring 2018.
Many embassies in different countries have closed due to the ongoing pandemic according to Michelle Streeter-Ferrari, Director of the University Center for International Education (UCIE), which affects what countries these students can go to.
Streeter explains that WSU has recruiters living in India that have helped students apply for school after the country shut down due to complications from the COVID-19 Delta variant. This led to a 700% increase in graduate applications from Indian students according to Streeter.
“Ultimately, word-of-mouth is the best recruiter,” Streeter said.
Streeter touched on some factors that led to a national decline in international students before the fall of 2021. Streeter said the old U.S. administration was a considerable factor that led to a national decline in international student enrollment. Many international students had waited to apply for school in the U.S. in 2021 after the results of the 2020 election, according to Streeter.
