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Governors State University predicts loss of revenue with Trump pullback on student visas; Rep. Kelly Reacts
Governors State University predicts loss of revenue with Trump pullback on student visas; Rep. Kelly Reacts
Source: Daily Southtown
At Governors State University, international students are a source of pride, as well as revenue.
So as the Trump administration’s immigration and higher education policies usher in the revocation of thousands of student visas as well as fear of what might happen next, officials at the University Park school are preparing for the worst.
“Every administration has a different viewpoint on how they handle international students,” said Paul McGuinness, the Governors State vice president for student affairs and enrollment management. “But there’s also a difference in the type of institution and how you might benefit from students.”
The Trump administration canceled visas of international students at institutions including the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago as part of a larger movement nationwide.
The legal status of about 1,000 of the students across the country was later restored, but the president has continued to suspend the entry of some foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs as well as pull federal funding from elite research institutions.
While nationwide international students make up 6% of total postsecondary enrollment, they represented 14%, or 627 students, at Governors State. Students at select partner universities in Ethiopia, China, India, Taiwan, Turkey, Canada and Chile receive discounted tuition, but international undergraduate and graduate students overall pay a higher rate than all domestic students, McGuinness said.
While Governors State relies on little federal money, the university said a drop in international student enrollment, in conjunction with a looming “demographic cliff” due to fewer babies being born, could be financially devastating.
Colleges and universities already experienced a 15% decline in enrollment between 2010 and 2021, the most recent year for which figures are available, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. A report released in December by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education says the number of 18-year-olds who graduate from high school each year will decrease by 13%, or nearly half a million, by 2041.
Of the about 1.1 million international students in the U.S. during the 2023-2024 academic year, about 330,000 came from India and 277,000 came from China, which Trump called out as a target country for visa cancellations.
McGuiness said top countries of origin among Governors State University students mirror national trends though the university declined to provide specific enrollment data for international students.
“If grants are ended — federal grants — that will impact us, but nowhere to the same extent as a Research 1 institution (universities with the highest levels of research activity),” McGuinness said. “For the most part, we’re a tuition generated institution, so with less students we’ll have less revenue.”
A drop in international students, who usually pay more for their education compared to domestic students, along with fewer applicants overall would hit small, tuition dependent universities like Governors State particularly hard, McGuinness said.
“It will be a trying several years for all the universities, with less international students, which is what the forecasts outline,” McGuinness said. “If you couple that with a declining birth rate at the high school level, it kind of compounds what the university’s enrollment might look like.”
International students are also important in guiding courses and degrees offered at the university, which transitioned from offering junior and higher level courses only for most of its history to enrolling full-time students for four years starting in 2014.
“(International enrollment) gives you the opportunity to not only augment the loss of other enrollment, but it gives you the ability of maybe offering different programs … that maybe you wouldn’t be able to offer for your local residents,” McGuinness said.
According to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors data, 56% of international students in the United States major in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Domestic student participation in these types of programs at Governors State is made possible by international students’ interest in them, McGuinness said.
U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, whose district includes Governors State, said Wednesday that after hosting a town hall at Eastern Illinois University in the spring, she was horrified to hear 11 students were shipped back to their home countries after their visas were revoked.
“We have benefited by foreign students coming to the United States, many choosing to stay in the United States and be contributors to our success,” Kelly said. “I’ve heard stories where even if their visas are not revoked, students are choosing to leave because they don’t feel welcome.”
Governors State would not confirm whether the Trump administration has canceled any students’ visas or if any international students have left the university due to policy changes.
In spite of federal policy uncertainties, university officials say they continue to bring innovative opportunities to their students in hopes of attracting new demographics, including a state-of-the-art soccer facility this fall.
The Governors State soccer team lacks a practice space on campus, and the new field on the west side of campus will include Fédération Internationale de Football Association rated turf, covered benches for players and seating for up to 400 fans.
Men’s soccer coach Matthew Eggert highlighted in a news release a potential boost in international students as an important reason for constructing the field this summer. Of the 80 students on the men’s and women’s teams this year, 15 are international students coming from 13 different countries.
“We are proud of the fact that in the past three years we’ve been in national tournaments, with the most domestic players on our team than anyone in the tournament,” Eggert said. “It’s cool to see us giving equal opportunity to the local players as well as around the world.”
By Olivia Stevens