Ardys Gosch and other moneyed Aberdonians bankrolling anti-immigrant rallies are working against economic development and education in South Dakota. Northern State University touts research from the NAFSA Association of International Educators estimating that international students support jobs and business in Aberdeen:
Northern State University international students have a $5 million economic impact on the region – the second highest among universities in South Dakota.
That’s according to a report, “South Dakota Benefits from International Students,” released by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. The report, which includes figures from the 2015-16 academic year, also found that NSU international students support 27 jobs in the community.
This semester, Northern has 75 degree-seeking students and 98 exchange students from 42 different countries, said NSU Office of International Programs Director Leigh Neys.
“International student numbers at NSU have remained consistent the past few years, so this impact on the community is expected to continue,” Neys said.
“This is another example of how important our students are to the region,” said NSU President Dr. Timothy Downs. “This report is a great depiction of the positive impact Northern and our students have on our economy” [NSU, press release, 2017.11.06].
NAFSA:AIE says that in AY2016, 1,981 international students poured $37.9 million into South Dakota’s economy and supported 297 jobs. That’s about $19,100 of economic activity and 0.15 jobs per international student.
Those economic impact ratios are better in most neighboring states and nationally:
| State | Int’l Students | Ec. Impact ($M) | EI/student | Jobs | Jobs/student |
| Iowa | 12,711 | 365.8 | $28,778 | 3,710 | 0.29 |
| Minnesota | 14,941 | 418.5 | $28,010 | 4,148 | 0.28 |
| Montana | 1,735 | 50.5 | $29,107 | 547 | 0.32 |
| Nebraska | 5,910 | 148.4 | $25,110 | 1,503 | 0.25 |
| North Dakota | 2,571 | 54.5 | $21,198 | 526 | 0.20 |
| South Dakota | 1,981 | 37.9 | $19,132 | 297 | 0.15 |
| Wyoming | 1,157 | 22 | $19,015 | 205 | 0.18 |
| U.S. Total | 1,043,839 | 32,800 | $31,422 | 400,812 | 0.38 |
Minnesota attracts the most international students in the septa-state region, drawing 7.5 times as many as South Dakota. Montana recruits fewer foreign students than South Dakota but somehow gets nearly $10,000 more in economic impact and more than twice as much job creation per student. Yet every state in our northern central region underperforms the national average of $31,400 in economic impact and 0.38 jobs per international student.
Nationally, international student enrollment increased from below 600,000 in 2005 to over a million for the first time in 2015. International students generally pay higher tuition and fees that subsidize education for us locals. Unfortunately, Trumpist xenophobia has pushed these profitable students away from our Land of Opportunity: international student enrollment is down 9.6% this fall in the South Dakota Regental system, 14.2% at University of Iowa, 33% at University of Houston Clear Lake, and 38% at University of St. John’s in New York City.
Break the millions down. What does all this include? Seems kind of high.
Ardys & apologists should be forced, yes forced, to watch the BBC documentary, “1945: The Savage Peace”. It’s one hour destroys the veil between victim and victor, between ethnic supporter and cultural separatist. It’s available on Netflix.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/11624618/1945-The-Savage-Peace-review.html
Learn from the past; rather than embrace its worst.
We are skirting the real issue – These slots being taken by foreign students more and more are because other countries can afford a college education and middle class America can no longer fill these seats because they are financially edged out anymore. In return we have to have more visas because foreign students have been able to get the needed education to fill the jobs in the U.S. because they can afford it whereas U.S. students cannot afford to get the college education to fill the jobs in their own country.
Hold on, Robin: does Northern or any other SD Regental institution have any sort of enrollment cap that would cause an increase in foreign students enrolling to cause a decrease in seats available for local students?
If there are affordability issues, then we need to talk to the Regents and to the Legislature, which has consistently shouldered less of the cost of public university education that other states do in their systems.
Jenny, the NAFSA site doesn’t have the updated data for the states available, so I didn’t see the local methodology. I’m certainly open to skepticism about economic impact calculations: as we have seen with EB-5 and our oil pipelines, estimates of economic impact can be full of fuzzy math and wishful thinking.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/01/18/how-conservative-bastion-grew-embrace-immigrants/78854172/
Great story mfi – Thanks! My favorite quote about the attitude of residents of Sioux Center Latinos in the story was:
“We’ve gone from, ‘We tolerate them,’ to ‘We can’t do without them’, to ‘We love them.’ ”
It’s not about any physical cap but the cap of economics. When we worry about how many foreign students are sustaining our economy it’s a sure sign that we can’t sustain our economy.
Well, actually, Robin, isn’t that the case? Doesn’t the Board of Regents depend on bringing in students from outside South Dakota to sustain their campuses? Doesn’t the entire state need to import workers to replace the retiring baby boomers and fill the gaps left by our dwindling birthrates?