Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the negative effects of COVID-19 on the internationalization of higher education overall and the opportunities and experiences of thousands of university students worldwide who choose to pursue a portion of or all of their post-secondary education outside of their home country. Specifically, the author examines student mobility trends in the U.S. context in view of study abroad program adjustments, delays, cancellations, and fluctuations in the numbers of international students resulting from the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter also includes a discussion of the strategies of some U.S. universities to offset the adverse effects of COVID-19 on their internationalization efforts.
TopBackground
Internationalization of U.S. Universities
The world today has become globalized and transnational in unprecedented ways. Growing international and intercultural contacts have led to merging borders and created a need for internationally and interculturally competent citizens (Doyle et al., 2010) who are capable of communicating effectively across diverse backgrounds. In response to these trends, universities worldwide have engaged in an array of efforts to prepare their graduates for successful functioning in our interconnected world. These efforts include the internationalization of curricula, employment of international faculty, support of research pursuits that cross national borders, and programs that allow students to study outside of their home countries. Some of these initiatives are supported at the government level through the establishment of partnerships between countries in education and research.
As a way of internationalizing students’ educational experiences and better preparing graduates for success in today’s world, U.S. universities offer a variety of study abroad programs (Jackson, 2008). These programs include engaging in formal learning in a foreign country, usually combined with immersion in the local context, as part of a student’s degree (Freed, 1995; Nolan, 2009). Some study abroad programs are available in English and offer courses in a broad range of disciplines, while others are dedicated to language learning. Additionally, U.S. universities internationalize their faculty and recruit international students (Cantu, 2003). Prior to COVID-19, there was a steady growth in study abroad participation and in international student enrollment. Specifically, in 2018-2019, the number of U.S. students studying abroad reached 347,099, while the number of international students studying in the U.S. was 1,095,299 (Institute of International Education, 2020). These numbers indicate that university students in the world today perceive the advantages that come from complementing their post-secondary education with an international experience or from obtaining an entire degree abroad. International students studying in the U.S. may view a degree from a U.S. university as more prestigious than a degree obtained in their home country, while U.S. students may consider their international study as an experience that sets them apart when they enter the job market.
Key Terms in this Chapter
International Students: Students who pursue some or all of their higher education outside of their home country. In the U.S. context, these are non-resident aliens, on non-immigrant student visas (F1 or J1), enrolled in U.S. universities.
Internationalization of Higher Education: The process of making higher education more global via increased international and intercultural content, contact, collaboration, and exchange in teaching and research.
Intercultural Competence: The ability to communicate effectively across cultures due to the acquisition of appropriate intercultural knowledge, attitude, and skills.
Alternatives to Study Abroad: Activities and programs that do not require travel outside of the home country but can contribute to students’ intercultural development via engagement with international content and interaction with representatives of other cultures through online means.
Study Abroad (U.S. context): A program in which college students engage in formal study at a foreign institution that counts towards their degree at their home institution.
National Student Exchange: An education non-profit that provides opportunities for U.S. students to study away from their home institutions at partner institutions in the U.S. and U.S. territories.
COVID-19: An infectious, highly contagious, and easily spread disease known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and subsequently spread throughout the world reaching pandemic status in March 2020.
Student Mobility: The phenomenon of students crossing geographical borders to obtain a portion or all of their education in a country other than their own.