88% of universities responding to a survey reported a decline in international applications, according to Tyler Cowen. That's 28% fewer applications and 18% fewer admissions. Since most foreign students come with enough money to support domestic students with higher aid packages, the ability to get students here is deteriorating graduate education, according to this article from USA Today. Prof. Cowen asks, "If we are devoted to the idea of nation-building abroad, what better way to start?"

This has been an ongoing problem for ages. Our masters program is such that we can offer aid packages to international students, which is really the only way to get them here. The financial requirements are so large that most students cannot meet them. Embassy officers evaluating visa applications can also be quite difficult -- this may account for the fact that applications from China have dropped 45% according to the article. We have 900 international students at SCSU, and we've had some success through hard work at getting Chinese students to our own program. But yes, it's been getting harder and harder.