The Power of International Education Shifting Tides? Understanding International Student Yield for Fall 2017 Christine Farrugia, . Natalya Andrejko July 2017 IIE Center for Academic Mobility Research and Impact In Cooperation with: Introduction
Uncertainty plays a large role in the admission cycle as the start of the 2017/18 academic year draws near. Recent debates over visa and immigration policy have raised concerns among . higher education institutions regarding the desire and ability of international students to travel to the United States for their education. This report presents findings from a national survey of . higher education institutions to gauge whether shifts have occurred in the admissions yield of international students who have been accepted to academic programs starting in Fall 2017. In the admissions field, yield refers to the enrollment rates of admitted students. Calculations of yield serve as a useful tool for higher education institutions to track the progress of their admissions recruitment and enrollment processes. The survey findings described in this report build upon a similar joint international applications survey conducted in March 2017 to gauge shifts in applications received from international students at . higher education institutions. That study – led by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO) in partnership with four . higher education associations – found a mixed picture, with 38 percent of surveyed institutions indicating a decrease in international student applications, 36 percent seeing an increase, and 26 percent seeing no pared to the prior year (AACRAO, 2017). As a follow up to the previous joint survey, in May 2017 IIE again partnered with AACRAO, the Council of Graduate Schools, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), and NAFSA: Association of International Educators to conduct a surv