Wright State enrollment steady but with fewer international students this year

Wright State students walk on campus on Tuesday, Aug. 26. BRYANT BILLING / STAFF

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

Wright State students walk on campus on Tuesday, Aug. 26. BRYANT BILLING / STAFF

Despite experiencing a decline in international students, Wright State University’s enrollment continued to tick upward this year, following the last two years of increased enrollment overall.

Wright State officials announced this fall’s headcount was 11,924 students across both the Lake Campus in Mercer County and the main campus in Fairborn, up from last fall’s 11,822 students.

“These are tremendous numbers,” said Susan Schauer, vice president for enrollment management and student success. “Certainly, they’re buoyed by our impressive retention strategies that we’ve implemented over the last several years.”

Undergraduate enrollment at Wright State University rose to 7,963 students this fall, a 4.7% increase from last year.

“The momentum we are experiencing and the positive energy related to Wright State’s future are noticeable, and that feels promising,” said Wright State University President Sue Edwards.

But the university, like many throughout the country, saw a decrease in the number of new international students. Overall, new, undergraduate international student enrollment fell by about 11%, according to Wright State numbers.

Other public Ohio universities have gotten fewer international students than Wright State, Schauer said.

Universities across the country have seen a decline in the number of international students on campus this year after President Donald Trump’s administration made changes to student visa requirements.

The U.S. State Department required prospective students to make social media accounts public to screen out students deemed to have hostile attitudes towards the U.S. government, according to a State Department announcement over the summer.

American universities seek out international students because they often pay full tuition. American students are more likely to get scholarships and are eligible for Pell Grants, which are for low-income students.

Other universities have announced budget cuts due to fewer international students. Schauer said the university made budget plans in the spring expecting there would be fewer international students and the university had more international students than predicted in the spring’s plan.

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