U.S. Colleges and Universities to Seek More Foreign Students

Increased Foreign Enrollments and On-Line Offerings Needed

The current growing financial crisis in the United States is really putting a serious strain on many U.S. Colleges and Univerisites. Even schools previously regarded as well off are feeling the pinch as the value of endowments are reduced due to problems on Wall Street. Many schools report the value of their endowments has fallen by 15 to 20% over the last four months.

As a result it is expected that U.S. Colleges and Universities will again turn to foreign students, and in particular Asian students, to help cover costs in these trying times. In the two past major recessions this has been the case. However this time there is one serious difference that may be a deadly roadblock to the normal method of operation. Getting visas to come to the United States is, expecially for students, more difficult than ever. In many countries, male applicants must wait upto four times longer for visa approval than women applicants. Security concerns are the reason and this will not change for the forseeable future.

For the last twenty years education has been a growth industry. But the current financial situation has almost every educatonal institution in a vise. Reduced endowment values, reduced new endowments, difficulty in foreign students getting student visas combined with dissapearence of much of the college loan credit infrastructure has schools nationwide in a quandry.

You could say that this is going to be a shakeout that will test schools with only the best and most versatile organizations remaining once the dust settles. Schools are finding it hard now to justify tuition increases when the previous ten years increases have already been in excess of cost increases from inflation.

Even state schools are in trouble as almost every state scrambles to balance it's budget. When states are in such a tight position that they start closing historical activities and museums for parts of each month, things are tough. Almost every state is asking schools to take less in the coming year and this has college and university presidents extremely worried.