Experts understandably feared that COVID-19 could cast a long shadow over international education, given its reliance on international travel. Those fears proved unfounded, as record numbers of students across the globe looked to study internationally in 2021 and early 2022.
This enthusiasm has extended across destination markets and led to an influx of international student applications worldwide. This means that the US is arguably facing more competition in attracting international students than ever before. Understanding its competitive advantages and disadvantages compared to other anglophone destination markets will be a key component of the ongoing recovery of the US’s international education sector.
Strong International Education Rebound in 2021–2022
The United States remains one of the most popular destination markets for international students, but its application growth did not share the same explosive momentum in 2021 as its competitors. The US government processed just under 450,000 student visa applications for its 2021 fiscal year,[1] below the nearly 490,000 processed in fiscal year 2019.
For comparison, the Canadian government processed more than 550,000 new student visa[2] applications in 2021, easily surpassing the record 425,000 processed in 2019.[3] And the United Kingdom saw a similar boom. Nearly 450,000 students applied for a sponsored study visa in 2021, up from 290,000 in 2019.
This means that the US was the only major anglophone destination market to see an application decline in 2021 (ignoring Australia, since its borders remained closed to international travel until mid-December 2021). But 2022 may be more promising. On the ApplyBoard Platform, which empowers students around the world to access the best education by simplifying the institutional search, US applications spiked by 200% from January to September 2022 compared to the same period last year.
Processing Delays Leave Students in Limbo
The influx of students vying to study internationally has put strain on the international education ecosystem. Governments have struggled to manage the stream of student visa applications, leading to processing delays that have kept students in limbo for months and, in some cases, forced them to defer their studies.
In the US, estimated wait times for a student visa interview appointment climbed steadily over the course of the year before falling sharply in September. But significant outliers remain. Remarkably, wait times of over a year remained for select Indian cities in October. The US government authorized consular officers to waive the in-person requirement for category F visa applicants through the end of 2022, but applicants must meet specific criteria to qualify for a waiver.[4]
But the US was not alone. Canada’s total visa backlog reached 2.1 million in June, due in part to the Canadian government’s efforts to relocate refugees from the Ukrainian crisis.[5] Amid this backlog, average student visa processing times hovered between 11 and 13 weeks throughout 2022 after falling as low as seven weeks in 2021.[6] And like the US, certain countries experienced higher processing times. For example, processing times for Sri Lankan students reached 26 weeks in September.
Australia faced backlogs of five to nine months while its borders were closed.[7] However, the Australian government has made significant investments to expedite visa processing, adding 140 new staff in May.[8] Currently, the government advises students to lodge their applications at least six to eight weeks before course commencement.
Facing its own visa processing delays, the UK government pointed to its own efforts to support Ukrainian refugees as contributing to the backlog.[9] Following a string of concerted efforts to reduce processing times, by October the average processing time for UK study visas sat at three weeks—significantly less than those for the other major English-language markets.
While the post-COVID boom will not last indefinitely, the ability to deliver shorter visa processing times—as we’re currently seeing from the UK—is likely to be a key point of competitive differentiation across markets moving forward. International students are eager to begin their education abroad as soon as possible, particularly those who put their plans on hold during the pandemic. As such, continuing to reduce wait times, particularly in outlier regions, could be a key component to the US’s ongoing recovery of its international education sector.
Student Visa Approval Rates a Key Differentiator
For some international applicants, the long wait for visa processing ends in disappointment. This is less of a concern in the UK and Australia, where candidates less likely to secure a visa are typically triaged out at the institution stage, and government approval rates are upwards of 90%.
For Canada and the US, however, significant numbers of students are refused a student visa. From 2016 to 2018, approval rates for Canadian and US students visas were roughly on par, hovering in the mid to high 60s. But since 2019, US approval rates have been consistently higher than Canadian rates. In 2021, the US F-1 student visa approval rate hit 80%, its highest since 2013. Canadian students, meanwhile, had just a 60% approval rate in 2021, and that rate fell to 57% over the first six months of 2022.
Students have taken notice of these challenges. In the October edition of ApplyBoard’s Pulse Survey, 66% of recruitment professionals surveyed said that visa processing times and approval rates were a top concern for their students. US institutions would be well served to highlight this advantage over their counterparts in Canada as they continue to rebuild their international enrollment post-pandemic.
Why Securing a Competitive Advantage Matters
In this era of increasing student choice in international education, one thing is absolutely certain: With unemployment rates reaching historic lows and job vacancy rates reaching historic highs in 2022—but with a recession looming over 2023—success in attracting the best and brightest international students means more success in the larger global competitive sphere. International graduates are productive and entrepreneurial drivers of economic success, meaning they’ll continue to be critical to the ongoing development and recovery of the economy.
More than anything else, the countries and institutions that succeed in bringing in top talent will be those that prioritize student success. Now is a good time for institutions to invest in strengthening ties to industry, expanding flexible learning models, and more. With the high cost of living dominating news cycles in 2022 and a global recession looming for 2023, affordability has become a top concern for international students. Institutions that are best able to support students inside and outside of the classroom will set themselves apart from their competition.
To learn more about how the US compares to other competitive destination markets, read ApplyBoard’s annual Trends Report.
ABOUT APPLYBOARD
ApplyBoard empowers students around the world to access the best education by simplifying the institutional search, application, and acceptance process. By connecting international students, academic institutions, and recruitment partners on a single online platform, ApplyBoard drives qualified student applicants and diversity to more than 1,600 campuses across Canada, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. ApplyBoard has helped more than 400,000 students along their educational journeys.
To learn more about ApplyBoard, please visit applyboard.com.
[1] All US student visa data used in this article is sourced from the US Department of State. US government fiscal years run from October of the previous year to September of the given year.
[2] The terms student visa and study permit are generally used interchangeably for Canadian international students. Rather than student visas, Canada provides accepted international students with study permits, which allow those students to enroll in classes at Canadian institutions. When a student is approved for a study permit, they are also usually provided with a visitor visa, which allows that student to enter Canada for their studies.
[3] All Canadian study permit data used in this article is provided courtesy of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Data includes new study permits only.
[4] US Department of State, “Important Announcement on Waivers of the Interview Requirement for Certain Nonimmigrant Visas.” December 23, 2021.
[5] Abigail Lindblade, “Students missing out as delays hit Canada visa applicants.” The PIE News, June 24, 2022.
[6] Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees Canada, “Check processing times.” September 29, 2022.
[7] Australian Department of Home Affairs, “Visa processing times.” August 30, 2022.
[8] The Hon Andrew Giles MP, “Government taking action to process more visas faster.” July 25, 2022.
[9] Kim Martin, “Extend Covid-19 concessions, say UK universities.” The PIE News, June 22, 2022.