Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ)
Category: Pathways to and Through Postsecondary
Between 2003 and 2016, international enrollment in US higher education nearly doubled. We examine how trade shocks in education affect public universities’ decision-making. We construct a shift-share instrument exploiting institutions’ historical networks with different origins of international students, income growth, and exchange-rate fluctuations. Contrary to claims that US-born students are crowded out, we find that international students increase schools’ funding via tuition payments, leading to increased in-state enrollment and lower tuition prices. Schools also maintain per-student spending and recruit students with higher math and verbal scores. Lastly, states allocate more appropriations to (research) universities that attract fewer international students.