The near-collapse of the currencies in some countries means that many foreign students, most of whom pay their own way or find sponsorship in their own countries, now face sharply higher costs. Except for a small number who qualify for U.S. financial assistance, the cost of a year's tuition and living expenses on a Western campus could effectively double. Education Minister David Kemp said last month. Fast-developing Asian countries have provided strong demand for higher education abroad, usually in English and particularly in business management. Long seen as a plus for intellectual diversity, foreign students have now become a competitive stake in international trade.
Higher education is the fifth largest service sector export of the United States.
John Meyers, director of development at the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, said the bottom line was grave everywhere. U.S. institutions lead the world this year in foreign enrollments with nearly 500,000 students, more than half of them from Asia. Among these groups, the most vulnerable are clearly the Koreans and the Thais, followed by Hong Kong Chinese. Even the Japanese will be hit by the fall in the yen against the U.S. dollar. A similar crisis arose in 1979 when the Iranian revolution cut off Tehran's support for Western education for young Iranians.