IDP has recently released its latest pulse surveys which show 54 per cent of prospective international students indicate the upcoming election outcome will have no influence on their decision to study in the US.
More than half of respondents of the survey (54 per cent) indicated that the election outcome will not impact their decision to study in the US. This is a shift from IDP’s 2021 post-election survey, in which 67 per cent of international students indicated they were more likely to study in the US following Joe Biden’s victory.
In this new research of 916 respondents, only 35 per cent of students indicated the election may influence their decision, ranging from slightly to significantly. Of this 35 per cent, there was a slight preference for a Kamala Harris presidency (57 per cent). Additional variants were seen by gender, with more male respondents favouring Donald Trump than females (49 per cent vs. 38 per cent).
Simon Emmett, CEO of IDP Connect, said the research also showed that restrictive policy environments in other destination countries may be boosting student interest in the US, which could be good news for US institutions. “Regardless of the election outcome, many international students have lifelong goals of studying in the US – demonstrating the strong brand of US institutions globally,” Mr Emmett said.
“Encouragingly for the US sector, our survey showed that recent policy changes in Canada, UK and Australia have prompted new students – up to a quarter of respondents – to also consider the US as a top destination.
Survey respondents ranked the US’s quality of education as the number one factor contributing to their perception of the country as an attractive study destination.
Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, said “The IDP research shows that students are consistently focused on practical aspects of studying abroad, such as quality of education, which students rank higher for the US than any other destination.”
“While we know that some students will be monitoring how the election outcome may impact international student policies, ultimately we must focus on our areas of strength and international student success and outcomes in order to continue to attract the brightest and best students to our diverse, world-leading institutions.”
For more information on the survey, see here.
