SXSW EDU panel examines rising international student counts and shifting enrollment patterns in U.S. higher education

March 14, 2026

Education leaders and scholars gathered at SXSW EDU on March 11 to unpack new international student trends and what they mean for U.S. campuses. The session, titled New Ground Rules: Shifts in U.S. International Education, brought university presidents and experts together to discuss enrollment data and institutional responses.

A report from the Institute of International Education shows total international enrollment in the United States grew 4.5 percent last year, a slower pace than the 6.6 percent gain the year before. Jason Czyz, IIE president, noted universities are seeing fewer new enrollments even as exchange programs and other mobility options remain in demand.

Panelists pointed to global policy changes and shifting student choices as factors pushing some applicants to study outside the United States. Texas emerged as a notable case, hosting the third-largest international student population nationally, with the state’s numbers increasing by about 8 percent from the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

Moderator Deneyse Kirkpatrick emphasized the economic value of those students for Texas, saying their presence supports job creation and boosts multiple sectors across the state. Panelists urged institutions to treat international enrollment as both an academic and economic priority when planning recruitment and retention efforts.

Lawrence Shovanec, president of Texas Tech University, compared his campus’s roughly 2,600 international students with the nearly 7,000 reported at the University of Texas at Austin. He recommended flexible retention tactics, such as offering online coursework while students wait for visa approvals and building deeper academic partnerships overseas to sustain pathways to U.S. campuses.

Speakers also discussed outbound mobility. Fewer than 300,000 Americans studied abroad last year, a 6 percent increase over the previous year, but still a small share compared with the more than one million international students coming to the U.S. Czyz urged universities to promote study abroad, arguing those experiences broaden students’ perspectives and personal growth.

Georgetown professor Vivian Walker highlighted broader benefits of international education, saying it helps foster global understanding, supports U.S. public diplomacy and contributes to stability. She shared how firsthand testimony from a Ukrainian student brought a powerful, human dimension to classroom discussion about the Russia-Ukraine war.

Panelists left the session calling for universities to adapt recruitment, expand virtual and partnership-based programs, and encourage two-way exchange so institutions and communities can continue to benefit from global learning.