With school in swing for the fall, enrollment numbers at Ohio’s colleges and universities are coming together.
While all of Ohio’s public universities saw an increase in enrollment, each university also saw a decline in international student enrollment.
Wright State University had the most modest decline in enrollment, losing 4.3% of its international students.
Bowling Green University and Cleveland State University, had the largest relative losses, each losing about a third of their international student enrollment.
Enrolling international students brings benefits to the state of Ohio.
International students usually pay “sticker price,” meaning the entirety of their tuition tends to go toward supporting the state system and providing education for other students.
International students also bring new perspectives to the classroom and student organizations, helping enhance the learning experience of students from Ohio and out-of-state students who may live in Ohio after college.
International students who come to Ohio for school are also more likely to stay in Ohio afterwards, helping to counteract Ohio’s “brain drain” problem by bringing qualified people from abroad to bolster Ohio’s workforce.
While national-level headwinds are hard to overcome, Ohio has some tools in its belt to attract international students.
Ohio could create a statewide tuition and internship initiative. This could use funds to create modest reductions in tuition in priority fields: think engineering, data science, and health.
This could be paired with an internship program where universities work with Ohio employers to hire international students and keep them on after graduation.
This could help bring in international students targeted towards filling holes in Ohio’s workforce, which would lead to higher earnings and more job creation in the state in the long run.
The state could also market its universities as a single destination, rather than 14 universities under different brands.
Ohio has amenities that should make the state an attractive destination for international students: affordable cities, safety, and job opportunities in lucrative fields such as healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, and technology.
Making Ohio’s offering clear could lead to, for instance, Miami University losing more international students to places like Ohio University and less places like Michigan State.
The state could invest in reducing bureaucratic friction for international students.
Standardized driver’s license or state ID rules could make it easier for international students to get identification that can connect them to other amenities in the state.
Statewide welcome centers at airports could give new international students a place to begin as they arrive in the state.
And providing legal and visa services across universities, the system could help support international students in dealing with an increasingly fickle federal Department of State.
Finally, the state can try to help students stay in Ohio after they graduate.
An H1-B bridge program with universities as sponsoring partners could help students transition into the working world.
Requiring JobsOhio to count international talent retention as a key performance metric could also encourage companies to retain international students in the state.
International students bring vibrancy, talent, and economic vitality to the state of Ohio.
For Ohio to stay competitive in a global economy, it needs to have a global workforce. Steps like this could help it do just that.
This commentary first appeared in the Ohio Capital Journal.