Barring foreign students could raise tuition at Indiana schools, report warns
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Indiana's public colleges and universities may no longer admit students from "adversarial" countries to some STEM programs without reviewing each student for security concerns or foreign influence.
Why it matters: More restrictions on international student enrollment could strain the budgets of colleges and universities, which also saw state funding cuts last year.
- Plus: Indiana's nearly 30,000 international students contributed around $1 billion to the Hoosier economy during the 2023–24 school year.
The big picture: It's the latest move to restrict foreign students at Indiana's higher education institutions.
- International student enrollment is already down more than 14% at the state's two largest public university systems this year.
- Nationally, international enrollment has declined as students contend with visa issues, travel bans and immigration policy uncertainty.
Driving the news: A provision of Senate Enrolled Act 256 requires a "foreign influence and research security review" before enrolling students from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran (or any other nations the federal or state government determines is a threat to national security) into certain programs.
- The review must examine students' current and past affiliations, sources of financial support, employment history and family ties.
- Academic programs subject to review include chemical, electrical, industrial and mechanical engineering, AI, computer science, microbiology, virology or anything else determined by the higher education commissioner.
Caveat: Currently enrolled students are grandfathered in — it only applies to new students, starting Aug. 15.
The intrigue: A fiscal analysis of SEA 256 warns that further curbing foreign student enrollment could result in tuition losses, either from fewer students or from replacing those who would have paid out-of-state tuition with students paying in-state tuition.
- The analysis suggests it could push schools to raise tuition to offset the losses.
Between the lines: Holding tuition flat at all of the state's public schools was celebrated by state leaders last year.
What they're saying: Higher education has been largely quiet on the provision, though an earlier version of the language would have entirely barred students from the listed countries from the concerned programs.
- The Indiana Commission for Higher Education directed Axios' questions to individual institutions.
- IU and Purdue did not respond to Axios' questions on the potential financial impact.
