International Students

This weekend, Jeff Foot and I will be heading to Scottsdale, Ariz. to attend the Community Colleges for International Development conference. We are extremely excited about this because community colleges compose a large part of our international student insurance business. Many of these institutions have been clients for more than two decades. Because of this, we believe we understand the challenges of community colleges better than any of our competitors. Enrollment at community colleges has created more competition amongst community colleges, which now seems to be at an all-time high. Fortunately, the value of a community college education remains foremost in the public’s mind as state universities struggle with rising costs due to their states having fewer tax dollars to allocate. The national average cost for an academic year at a four-year state school is $16,000 for domestic students, while the cost for out-of-state tuition at a community college is slightly more than $8,000, and half of that for in-state students. For international students, the political climate has taken a toll on enrollment, but the value of an American education is still high for these students. The challenge for the international office at community colleges is not only to recruit international students, but to keep them in school.