The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-10)

SUNDAY, APRIL 10 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU A

A more lenient admissions-

testing policy was also a factor,

she said. “We do think that being

test optional has probably low-

ered a barrier for many students

who might have a harder time

getting to those tests,” Knoll-Finn

said.

Like other universities, NYU

stepped up its virtual recruiting

during the pandemic because

admissions officers were unable

to travel much in person. Knoll-

Finn said that has helped NYU

draw a more diverse group of

potential students.

BETH HARPAZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS

At Yale, a pplications from all locations, foreign and domestic,

topped 50,000 this year for the first time. Yale’s admissions rate,

already selective at 6.5 percent, sank to 4.5 percent this year.

the testing requirement chang-

es.”

For the University of Califor-

nia at Los Angeles, international

applications for freshman admis-

sion have risen more than 30

percent since 2020 — to about

23,600. The surge coincides with

the elimination of test scores as a

factor in admissions. The UC

system’s shift to a “test-free” pol-

icy, said Youlonda Copeland-

Morgan, vice provost for enroll-

ment management at UCLA, “has

attracted applicants who may

have had challenges accessing

one of those exams.”

For NYU, international appli-

cations are part of its lifeblood.

About a quarter of its 27,

undergraduates in New York are

international. The private uni-

versity also has campuses in

Shanghai and the United Arab

Emirates. This year, internation-

al applications to NYU’s main

campus in New York were up 15

percent, said Knoll-Finn, the

NYU enrollment chief.

more than 5 percent of their

enrollment since fall 2019 —

nearly 1 million students — amid

the pandemic and economic up-

heaval.

Now, colleges and universities

are hoping that the volatility in

global higher education is easing.

“The pandemic just blew up ev-

eryone’s enrollment models and

projections,” said John Wilker-

son, associate vice president for

international services at Indiana

University.

Wilkerson said he sees signs of

a return to normalcy. Some of the

international application

growth, he said, is due to pent-up

demand. Many potential stu-

dents want to hit the road after

not being able to travel for a

couple years.

The Common App’s data

shows that the top suppliers of

international applicants this

year, in descending order, are

China, India, Canada, Pakistan

and Nigeria. Admissions experts

point to India as a key source of

growth.

Federal data show that a little

more than 3 percent of the 16.

million undergraduates in fall

2019 were international stu-

dents.

During the Trump administra-

tion, colleges worried that hard-

line federal policies on immigra-

tion and travel from certain

countries could drive away inter-

national students. “There was

huge concern,” said Angel B.

Pérez, chief executive of the Na-

tional Association for College Ad-

mission Counseling. With Presi-

dent Biden in office, he said, it

appears those questions have re-

ceded.

“There is a little bit more

optimism from enrollment man-

agers,” Pérez said. As the pan-

demic eases, he said, “the infra-

structure to get students to the

United States is also coming

back.”

Natalie Bitton, president of the

International Association for

College Admission Counseling,

which is affiliated with the asso-

ciation Pérez leads, said she sees

the beginnings of a rebound in

demand for U.S. higher educa-

tion. “Two major barriers have

been lifted,” Bitton said. "One is

the ability to leave their country

and get visas. And the second is

tions from all locations, foreign

and domestic, topped 50,000 this

year for the first time. That’s up

42 percent from the total the

university received in 2020. Yale’s

admissions rate, which was 6.

percent that year, sank to 4.

percent this year.

More than half of the total

increase in the applicant pool

over those two years has come

from international applicants,"

Jeremiah Quinlan, Yale’s dean of

undergraduate admissions and

financial aid, wrote in an email.

Yale is a special case because it

is one of a handful of schools that

pledge to review international

applications without regard to

financial need and meet the full

need of those who are admitted.

Others are Harvard and Prince-

ton universities, the Massachu-

setts Institute of Technology and

Amherst College. Dartmouth an-

nounced in January that it is

joining this group.

But the growth in internation-

al applications appears to be

about more than financial aid.

Soon after the pandemic

emerged, Yale (like many selec-

tive colleges) suspended its ad-

missions testing requirement. It

will not require SAT or ACT

scores through at least the next

admissions cycle. That has lured

potential students from around

the world who otherwise might

have hesitated to apply.

“The shift to test-optional has

definitely played a role in this

increase,” Quinlan wrote.

The pandemic imposed major

hurdles in access to testing for

students around the world. The

College Board, which owns the

SAT, found that about 122,0 00

international students in the

high school Class of 2021 took the

admissions test. That was down

23 percent compared with the

previous class.

Test access wasn’t the only

problem. Health, financial and

travel worries have also plagued

international students.

The Institute of International

Education, which tracks enroll-

ment, found the number of inter-

national undergraduates in the

United States plummeted 14 per-

cent in the 2020-2021 school year.

That exacerbated major domes-

tic recruiting problems. U.S. col-

leges and universities have shed

BY NICK ANDERSON

Prominent U.S. colleges and
universities are reporting a surge
in international applications
over the past two years, fueled
by the easing of pandemic trav-
el restrictions and new policies
that allow potential students
to apply without SAT or ACT
scores.
The Common Application, an
online platform for hundreds of
schools, found that as of March 15
the number of international ap-
plicants had grown 34 percent
since 2020. That far exceeded the
12 percent rate of growth for U.S.
applicants.
The data reveals a tantalizing
source of potential students as
colleges nationwide grapple with
significant enrollment losses
since the pandemic. However,
those applicants are often chas-
ing big-name schools that are not
hurting for students.
“It’s obviously a huge popula-
tion of young people around the
globe who could potentially pur-
sue education here,” said MJ
Knoll-Finn, senior vice president
for enrollment management and
student success at New York
University. “There’s a lot of
strength in the U.S. market.”
For prospective international
students, the past two years have
posed intense challenges. The
public health crisis disrupted
travel worldwide in 2020 and
2021 and threw college enroll-
ment plans into chaos.
The recent growth in applica-
tions is uneven.
At public Indiana University,
international applications for
freshman admission were up 11
percent over two years. At the
public University of California
system, they were up 17 percent.
Some big-name private
schools revealed huge increases:
Dartmouth College, up 71 per-
cent; Yale University, up 99 per-
cent.
At Yale, one of the world’s most
selective universities, applica-

Surge of international applicants at elite colleges

Trend is fueled by easing

of travel rules, removal

of SAT and ACT scores

BY COLBY ITKOWITZ

Former president Donald
Trump on Saturday jumped into a
high-stakes intraparty contest,
endorsing fellow television celeb-
rity-turned-politician Mehmet Oz
in the contested Republican pri-
mary for the U.S. Senate in Penn-
sylvania, where the leading can-
didates jockeyed aggressively for
Trump’s support.
Trump issued a statement an-
nouncing the endorsement just
as he was beginning his remarks
at an evening rally in North
Carolina, where he promoted his
support for Oz and referenced
their shared history as television
stars.
“By the way, I endorsed an-
other person today — Dr. Oz in
Pennsylvania,” Trump told the
crowd. “Dr. Oz. Great guy, good
man. He’s a good man. Harvard-
educated, tremendous, tremen-
dous career and they liked him
for a long time. That’s like a poll.
You know, when you’re in televi-
sion for 18 years, that’s like a poll,
that means people like you.”
Joining Trump at his rally were

several North Carolina congres-

sional candidates, including Rep.

Ted Budd, who is running in a

crowded Republican primary for

U.S. Senate, and Rep. Madison

Cawthorn, who has faced criti-

cism from GOP colleagues, in-

cluding House Minority Leader

Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Trump’s endorsement of Oz

marks his second try in the Penn-

sylvania race. He previously en-

dorsed Republican Sean Parnell,

who ended his campaign last year

amid allegations of domestic

abuse. In a meandering written

statement Trump issued just as

he was starting his remarks in

North Carolina, he referenced

Oz’s television show and said he

felt Oz was the most electable

candidate.

“This is all about winning elec-

tions in order to stop the Radical

Left maniacs from destroying our

Country,” Trump said in that

statement.

Trump’s Saturday comments

plunged him deeper into the mid-

term landscape and reflected his

interest in leaving a mark on

contested Republican primaries.

Some in the GOP have grown

nervous about Trump’s presence

in the primaries, worrying he will

help elevate less-electable candi-

dates.

Senate Democratic operatives

are seeking to tie Trump to Re-

publican candidates, wagering

that his support could turn off

swing voters and shift attention

away from President Biden’s low

approval ratings.

The Pennsylvania endorse-

ment marked Trump’s entrance

into a race that both parties see as

a critical front in the fight for the

Senate majority. The chamber is

currently split 50-50 between Re-

publicans and Democrats, with

Vice President Harris empow-

ered to break ties, giving Demo-

crats the narrowest majority.

Trump previously hinted at his

preference for Oz, but David Mc-

Cormick, a hedge fund manager

who is also a top contender in the

May 17 Pennsylvania race, was

spotted at Mar-a-Lago only a few

days ago seeking Trump’s en-

dorsement.

The Senate race in Pennsylva-

nia to replace retiring Republican

Patrick J. Toomey is expected to

be one of the most expensive and

closely watched elections this

year. Democrats are in the midst

of their own crowded primary,

with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and

Rep. Conor Lamb among the

candidates.

Pennsylvania is a longtime

swing state, frequently flipping

back and forth between Demo-

cratic and Republican candidates

in statewide elections. Trump’s

narrow 2016 win there was the

first for a GOP presidential nomi-

nee since 1988. Biden, who was

born in Scranton, Pa., won it in

2020.

The Democratic Senatorial

Campaign Committee swiftly

pounced on the Trump endorse-

ment of Oz.

“The Republican Senate pri-

mary in Pennsylvania was al-

ready nasty, expensive and bru-

tal,” said DSCC spokesperson Pat-

rick Burgwinkle in a statement.

“Now Trump’s endorsement will

only intensify this intra-party

fight, just like it has in GOP

Senate primaries across the coun-

try — leaving their ultimate nom-

inee badly damaged and out of

step with the voters who will

decide the general election.”

In a signal of how eager Demo-

crats are to bring up Trump,

DSCC spokeswoman Nora Keefe

issued a second statement soon

after that claiming that the for-

mer president “continues to cre-

ate chaos in Senate GOP pri-

maries across the map.”

In addition to Oz and Budd,

Trump has doled out other high-

profile endorsements in competi-

tive GOP primaries, including

former senator David Perdue,

who is challenging Georgia Gov.

Brian Kemp. Kemp refused to

support Trump’s unsubstantiated

claims that the state’s 2020 presi-

dential results had been rigged

against him. Trump repeated his

false claims about the last elec-

tion at his rally Saturday night.

Trump was vocal in his support

for Cawthorn, who has alienated

some in his party with his fringe

conspiracy theories and incendi-

ary comments, such as claiming

he’d seen his GOP colleagues do

cocaine and had been invited to

orgies with them.

“A man, I love him, because he’s

never controversial. There’s no

controversy,” Trump said of Caw-

thorn, apparently speaking sar-

castically. “But you know what?

He loves this country, he loves

this state and I’ll tell you, he is

respected all over the place.”

Trump’s rally speech contained

his typical fare, falsely claiming

over and over that he’d won the

2020 election and flirting with

running again in 2024. He

warned of the United States’ de-

mise under the Democrats and

made several anti-transgender

comments, piggybacking on laws

GOP lawmakers have spearhead-

ed in states that restrict rights of

transgender children.

“No teacher should ever be

allowed to teach far-left gender

theories to our children without

parental consent,” Trump said.

“It’s truly child abuse, plain and

simple.”

Trump mocked his political

foes and offered a grim outlook

for America, touching on hot-but-

ton issues among his base, in-

cluding immigration, crime and

gas prices.

Trump endorses Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania Senate primary

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