A survey conducted by IDP Education found that 54% of prospective international students said that the upcoming presidential election in the US will not impact their decision to study in the country.
Just over one third of students said the election would influence their decision, with most favouring a Kamala Harris victory.
“Regardless of the election outcome, many international students have lifelong goals of studying in the US – demonstrating the strong brand of US institutions globally,” said Simon Emmett, IDP Connect CEO.
The results reveal a shift from the previous election, when IDP’s 2021 post-election survey revealed that 67% of international students were more likely to study in the US following Joe Biden’s victory.
In the new survey – which had 916 respondents – only 35% of students indicated the election may influence their study decisions, ranging from slightly to significantly.
Of this 35%, there was a slight preference (57%) for a Democrat presidency under Kamala Harris.
Additional variants were seen by gender, with 49% of males favouring a Donald Trump presidency compared to 38% of females.
“Encouragingly for the US sector, our survey showed that recent policy changes in Canada, UK and Australia have prompted new students – up to a quarter of respondents – to also consider the US as a top destination.
“This presents a unique opportunity for US institutions to attract and support this growing pool of talent,” said Emmett.
Regardless of the election outcome, many international students have lifelong goals of studying in the US
Simon Emmett, IDP
In Canada, the existing cap on international students has been squeezed further in new policy changes announced last month.
Australia too is grappling with the prospect of introducing caps on international students, dramatically changing the landscape of international student recruitment to two of the world’s largest markets.
Survey respondents ranked the US’s quality of education as the number one factor contributing to their perception of the country as an attractive study destination.
“The IDP research shows that students are consistently focused on practical aspects of studying abroad, such as quality of education, which students rank higher for the US than any other destination,” said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
“While we know that some students will be monitoring how the election outcome may impact international student policies, ultimately we must focus on our areas of strength and international student success and outcomes in order to continue to attract the brightest and best students to our diverse, world-leading institutions,” added Aw.
