Vietnamese Enrollments in the US Holding Steady

15:00 16/10/2023

When it rains, it pours. Being the wonk that I am, I have been checking periodically for a SEVIS update since the last one was uploaded in March 2023. At that time, there were 24,865 Vietnamese students in the US at all levels, mostly in higher education. I recently checked and saw there were numerous updates, in fact, one for every month from April to September 2023. (The Biden administration has done a much better job with these updates than its predecessor.)

When it rains, it pours. Being the wonk that I am, I have been checking periodically for a SEVIS update since the last one was uploaded in March 2023. At that time, there were 24,865 Vietnamese students in the US at all levels, mostly in higher education. I recently checked and saw there were numerous updates, in fact, one for every month from April to September 2023. (The Biden administration has done a much better job with these updates than its predecessor.)

Here they are in descending chronological order.

September 2023: 24,072 (+1.58)

August 2023: 23,697 (+6.9%)

July 2023: 22,168 (-3.78)

June 2023: 22,943 (-3.94%)

May 2023: 23,885 (-3.12%)

April 2023: 24,655
 

While the end of the year decreases are to be expected with graduations, I expected a higher rebound over the summer during the high visa season. (The October number is probably higher because it includes September visa issuances, which have yet to be updated.)

Here are some updates from a February blog post by type of institution and the change from then to now:

Secondary (boarding and day) schools: 15% decrease from 2,004 to 1,701

Community colleges: 12.6% decrease from 3450 to 3094

Four-year colleges and universities: 4.45% decrease from 13,254 to 12,664

Graduate programs: 3.97% increase from 4,907 to 5,102 (This is a recent trend.)

In closing, I feel like I’m doing this analysis lite with one hand tied behind my back. I don’t know what the current F-1 issuance rate is in Vietnam. I know it’s considerably lower than for tourist and business visas. I have the sense that the US Mission (Embassy and Consulate) could be taking more chances and issuing more visas.

To put all of the above in historical context, the high point of Vietnamese enrollment in the US was in March 2017 with 30,817. That’s a 21.89% (let’s round it up to 22%, shall we?) decrease in the past six and a half years. One reason is the COVID-19 pandemic but there are other forces at play, including an accumulation of negatives and increasing competition between host countries.

Breaking news! Over the summer, Australia overtook the US as the world’s leading English-speaking destination for Vietnamese students with 27,764, a 39% increase over the same period last year.

Note: Yes, I have used the above title for previous posts, most recently this one from October 2022.

Shalom (שלום), MAA