International students explain their fear of a Trump presidency

Students might think twice about coming to the US

Every year colleges in the United States send representatives to the four corners of the world to present their institution and attract as many potential applicants as possible.

An increasingly growing popular topic of conversation is the fate of this country under the leadership of Donald Trump. What would his presidency mean for foreign relations and immigration? Would it affect how foreigners come to America for college?

So we asked international students if they think the upcoming Trump presidency would deter them from studying in the States.

Jeongmook, Columbia, from Daejeon, South Korea


This election has been a big surprise for those outside the US as well. There has been a big tendency lately to exaggerate the effect that Trump’s presidency will have on the international students coming into the US for jobs and education because even though Trump is the president-elect, the country has established itself as a beacon of freedom and the American dream, although Trump has made controversial and harmful remarks. I don’t think the desire to study will change but his economic and immigration policies will change how and how easily the international students come, stay and work.

Mathias, Princeton, from Buenos Aires, Argentina


I believe that Trump will not prevent international students to come to the United Sates because he doesn’t decide who gets accepted into college. Colleges here like diversity. The upcoming presidency might scare some students from applying, but I think the number of international students will stay the same.

Ridhima, Columbia, from New Delhi, India

I feel like the Trump presidency will scare international students from coming to the US for college because the things that Trump has said attacks a lot of races and people won’t be comfortable with that. This has also made people take America less seriously; for instance, coming from India, we feel like US education is prime and where we should go but the fact that Trump has been elected might make people think that they should go somewhere else to get a good education.

Cindy, Columbia, from Buenos Aires, Argentina

I don’t really know what is going to happen with this presidency. Most of the plans he proposed are now vague. I definitely think his presidency will scare international students from applying because of potential restrictions there might be for visas and such. Overall, the net effect might be that international students might deviate their focus from studying in the US to studying in other top places like the UK and Canada.

Arjun, Columbia, from New Delhi, India

The internationals who applied to schools in the US are the most liberal people from the most conservative countries because they come from the most globalized parts. They apply to the most liberal elite institutions on the West and East Coast. Parents don’t want to spend money for their children to be scared or uncomfortable; they might not let their kids apply to Mid-Western schools because of the image propagated by the media, these schools would have the highest congregations of conservative thought. People who thought they would come to this country, receive a decent education and carry on with their lives, will think about it twice because they won’t want to be part of a community that is polarized against them.

Sofía, Sciences Po, from Buenos Aires, Argentina

I think that Trump’s government definitely won’t encourage people to go study in the US but it might be hard for students to enter the country because of visa policies and restrictions. I have to go to the US next year for an exchange and I’m a little nervous because of that.

However, it is unwise to say that students won’t want to go study to the US because of their president because there wouldn’t be all the student and cultural exchanges between countries that there are today, and not all the countries have the same type of government and leader. The media is really putting an emphasis on Trump’s America. One should also consider the case of Brexit that will lead to changes in EU students programs like Erasmus that are very important, so saying that Trump will be majorly affecting all of that is a little too excessive.

More
Columbia University