the number of international students enrolled in u.s. colleges and universities exceeded one million for the first time during 2015-16 academic year, a 7% increase from the previous year and nearly double the level of 10 years ago. but some u.s. schools are concerned about their ability to continue to dominate the global marketplace. they cite the election of donald trump, who ran on a platform of tightening u.s. borders, combined with china<u+2019>s growing effort to attract international students, flat u.s. government education spending and<u+00a0>a spate of racist attacks on college campuses since the election. <u+201c>i think there will be a short-term chilling effect on international students coming here not unlike there was after 9/11,<u+201d> said jason lane, chairman of the department of education policy and leadership at the university at albany-suny.<u+00a0><u+201c>international students will be concerned about what the political environment means for them.<u+201d> china continues to send the largest number of students to the u.s. at 328,547, up 8.1% over the 2014-15 academic year, while india is second, at 165,918, up 25% from the prior year, according to the institute of international education, which released its <u+201c>open doors<u+201d> report<u+00a0>on monday. the u.s. is by far the largest destination for international students, but investment in higher education by china is reshaping the global marketplace. a decade ago, china attracted very few students from abroad; last year there were 397,635, according to the chinese government.<u+00a0>that is up 36% from 2011. in 2015, 60% of students studying in china came from other asian nations. south koreans alone sent 66,672 last year. the number of south koreans studying in the u.s. declined last year by 4% to 61,007. by 2020, china is projected to attract more international students than the u.k.,<u+00a0>which is second to the u.s. in the field,<u+00a0>according to several analysts. the u.k.<u+2019>s decision to leave the european union could hurt its prospects of attracting foreign students,<u+00a0>they said. last year in the u.s., international students spent about $30.5 billion, according to the iie. u.s. colleges and universities have become increasingly dependent on that revenue. a demographic dip in u.s. college-aged students comes as state funding for public universities remains well below levels from before the 2007-09 recession. public schools often charge international students two to three times what domestic students pay. the election of mr. trump, who campaigned on a nativist platform,<u+00a0>combined with reports of racist incidents at several colleges and universities<u+00a0>has sent concern across schools that depend on international students. the trump transition team didn<u+2019>t respond to a request for comment. at san diego state university last week, a muslim student wearing a hijab was attacked in a parking lot because of her faith and attire, the school said. <u+201c>we condemn this hateful act and urge all members of our community to join us in condemning such hateful acts,<u+201d> sdsu president elliot hirshman said in a statement. at the<u+00a0>university of pennsylvania, mr. trump<u+2019>s alma mater, the mayor of philadelphia denounced a series of racist texts allegedly sent to black students.<u+00a0>and at elon university in north carolina, the school president condemned a message written on a whiteboard that said, <u+201c>bye bye latinos hasta la vista.<u+201d> <u+201c>i want to say emphatically that this incident is reprehensible and directly in conflict with elon<u+2019>s values of inclusion and treating each other with dignity and respect,<u+201d> president leo m. lambert wrote in a statement. <u+201c>now, more than ever, we need to show kindness and respect toward one another, especially to those members of our community who are feeling vulnerable.<u+201d> last week, ivor emmanuel, the director of international students at university of california, berkeley, which has nearly 6,000 foreign students, sent an email to his students with the subject line <u+201c>words of encouragement to our international community.<u+201d> <u+201c>for those of you in the international community who have been feeling unwelcome in this country by any statements made by a particular candidate, we at uc berkeley, and the berkeley international office in particular, want to assure you that we value your presence,<u+201d> the statement said. in an interview, dr. emmanuel said students from the middle east are concerned about heading back home for winter break because they aren<u+2019>t sure they will be able to re-enter the u.s. the uncertainty accompanying mr. trump<u+2019>s election comes as the market for students grows more competitive. canada recently liberalized immigration rules for international students to encourage them to stay. china is offering significant scholarships to entice students to study there as it spends billions of dollars to improve its schools. allan goodman, president of the iie, believes the lack of school capacity in china and india combined with concern about the quality of degrees given in those countries will keep the u.s. well-fitted with international students. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t think they can educate these students at home. they<u+2019>re going to need what american has for generations,<u+201d> he said. in higher education, <u+201c>people still trust <u+2018>made in the usa.<u+2019><u+201d> write to douglas belkin at doug.belkin@wsj.com and te-ping chen at te-ping.chen@wsj.com
enrollment from abroad sets record at u.s. colleges - wsj
douglas belkin te-ping chen