Barring foreign students could raise tuition at Indiana schools, report warns
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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.