Abstract
College and university rankings have received considerable attention throughout the world. To date, very little inquiry has examined the role of these rankings in shaping international student enrollment, which is surprising given many institutions’ desire to recruit these students. The present study explores this issue by examining data from U.S. News and World Report’s rankings of national universities and liberal arts colleges. Specifically, it explored how changes in each of these rankings over time were associated with changes in international student enrollment; as a comparison, it also considered these same relationships among domestic students, who comprise the vast majority of U.S. undergraduates. Within a total analytic sample of 4,698 observations from 502 institutions, improvements in national university rankings consistently predict increases in international student enrollment, and these relationships are stronger at universities that were ranked more favorably. Improved rankings are also sometimes associated with increases in international student enrollment at liberal arts colleges. Regardless of institutional type, the link between rankings and international student enrollment has become even stronger in recent years. In contrast, the corresponding patterns for rankings and domestic student enrollment are weaker, nonsignificant, or occasionally in the opposite direction.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allison, P. D. (2009). Fixed effects regression models. SAGE Publications.
Australian Trade and Investment Commission. (2022). Monthly summary. https://www.austrade.gov.au/australian/education/education-data/current-data/summaries-and-news/summaries-and-news. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Bastedo, M. N., & Bowman, N. A. (2010). U.S. News & World Report college rankings: Modeling institutional effects on organizational reputation. American Journal of Education, 116(2), 163–183. https://doi.org/10.1086/649437
Bastedo, M. N., & Jaquette, O. (2011). Running in place: Low-income students and the dynamics of higher education stratification. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 33(3), 318–339. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373711406718
Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., Gumport, P. J., & Berdahl, R. O. (Eds.). (2011). American higher education in the twenty-first century: Social, political, and economic challenges (4th edition). JHU Press.
Bednowitz, I. (2000). The impact of the “Business Week” and “US News & World Report” rankings on the business schools they rank [Honors Thesis, Cornell University]. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED481757. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Blinder, A. (2023, September 17). Why colleges can’t quit the U.S. News rankings. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/16/us/us-news-rankings-medical-schools-colleges.html. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Bowman, N. A., & Bastedo, M. N. (2009). Getting on the front page: Organizational reputation, status signals, and the impact of U.S. News and World Report on student decisions. Research in Higher Education, 50(5), 415–436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-009-9129-8
Bowman, N. A., & Bastedo, M. N. (2011). Anchoring effects in world university rankings: Exploring biases in reputation scores. Higher Education, 61(4), 431–444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-010-9339-1
Bowman, N. A., Stroup, N. R., & Fenton-Miller, S. (2023). The enrollment of racially minoritized students in law school: Factors predicting within-school changes over time. The Journal of Higher Education, 94(5), 557–580. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2022.2134688
Broecke, S. (2015). University rankings: Do they matter in the UK? Education Economics, 23(2), 137–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2012.729328
Cantwell, B., & Taylor, B. J. (2013). Global status, intra-institutional stratification and organizational segmentation: A time-dynamic tobit analysis of ARWU position among US universities. Minerva, 51(2), 195–223. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43548571. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Chen, J. M. (2017). Three levels of push-pull dynamics among Chinese international students’ decision to study abroad in the Canadian context. Journal of International Students, 7(1), 113–135. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v7i1.248
Cremonini, L., Westerheijden, D. F., Benneworth, P., & Dauncey, H. (2014). In the shadow of celebrity? World-class university policies and public value in higher education. Higher Education Policy, 27(3), 341–361. https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2013.33
Cruz, N. I. (2021). Institutional context drives mobility: A comprehensive analysis of how academic and economic factors relate to international student enrollment at United States higher education institutions [Doctoral Dissertation, Old Dominion University]. ODU Digital Commons. https://doi.org/10.25777/QDSJ-5963
de Wit, H. (2019). Internationalization in higher education, a critical review. Simon Fraser University Educational Review, 12(3), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.21810/sfuer.v12i3.1036
de Wit, H. (2020). Internationalisation in higher education: A western paradigm or global, intentional and inclusive concept? International Journal of African Higher Education, 7(2), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.6017/ijahe.v7i2.12891
de Wit, H., & Altbach, P. G. (2021). Internationalization in higher education: Global trends and recommendations for its future. Policy Reviews in Higher Education, 5(1), 28–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1820898
Desrochers, D. M., & Hurlburt, S. (2016). Trends in college spending, 2003–2013: Where does the money come from? Where does it go? What does it buy? American Institutes for Research. https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/Delta-Cost-Trends-in-College-Spending-January-2016.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Eagan, K. (2014, September 9). Putting today’s USNWR Rankings into context. HERI. https://heri.ucla.edu/putting-todays-usnwr-rankings-into-context/. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
El Masri, A., Choubak, M., & Litchmore, R. (2016). The global competition for international students as future immigrants: The role of Ontario universities in translating government policy into institutional practice. Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.
Espeland, W. N., & Sauder, M. (2007). Rankings and reactivity: How public measures recreate social worlds. American Journal of Sociology, 113(1), 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1086/517897
Espeland, W. N., & Sauder, M. (2016). Engines of anxiety: Academic rankings, reputation, and accountability. Russell Sage Foundation.
Fischer, K. (2020). Enrollment headaches from Coronavirus are many. They won’t be relieved soon. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/enrollment-headaches-from-coronavirus-are-many-they-wont-be-relieved-soon/. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
George Mwangi, C. A. (2013). The impact of state financial support on the internationalization of public higher education: A panel data analysis. Higher Education in Review, 10, 61–77.
George Mwangi, C. A., Peralta, A. M., Fries-Britt, S., & Daoud, N. (2016). Academic motivation and experiences of international students of color in STEM. In K. Bista & C. Foster (Eds.), Exploring the social and academic experiences of international students in higher education institutions (pp. 197–211). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-9749-2
Gibbons, S., Neumayer, E., & Perkins, R. (2015). Student satisfaction, league tables and university applications: Evidence from Britain. Economics of Education Review, 48, 148–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.07.002
Gong, X., & Huybers, T. (2015). Chinese students and higher education destinations: Findings from a choice experiment. Australian Journal of Education, 59(2), 196–218. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004944115584482
Gray, E. (2019). Are liberal arts colleges doomed? The cautionary tale of Hampshire College and the broken business model of American higher education. The Washington Post Magazine. https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2019/10/21/downfall-hampshire-college-broken-business-model-american-higher-education/. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Griffith, A., & Rask, K. (2007). The influence of the US News and World Report collegiate rankings on the matriculation decision of high-ability students: 1995–2004. Economics of Education Review, 26(2), 244–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2005.11.002
Hamamoto, S. (2018). Kōtōkyōiku kikai kaisōsa no kōzō to hendō – Taisu henkei model wo motiita shinngaku kikai no shituteki bunndannsenn no kentō [Structure and change in stratification of opportunity of higher education – using log linear model to analyze the boarder of educational opportunities]. In T. Yasuda (Ed.), 2015 nenn SSM tyōsa hōkokusyo 4 kyōiku I [The national survey of social stratification and social mobility report 2015 volume 4 education I]. Tokyo: Research Committee on Social Stratification and Social Mobility 2015. http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/2015SSM-PJ/0413-2.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Hazelkorn, E. (2015). Rankings and the reshaping of higher education: The battle for world-class excellence (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
Hossler, D., & Bontrager, B. (2014). Handbook of strategic enrollment management. John Wiley & Sons.
House of Commons. (2021). International students in UK higher education: FAQs. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7976/. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Institute of International Education. (2021). Enrollment by institutional type. https://opendoorsdata.org/data/international-students/enrollment-by-institutional-type/. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Institute of International Education. (2022a). New international student enrollment. https://opendoorsdata.org/data/international-students/new-international-students-enrollment/. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Institute of International Education. (2022b). U.S. Colleges and Universities see strong rebounds in international student enrollments. https://www.iie.org/news/us-sees-strong-international-student-enrollment-rebounds/. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Institute of International Education. (2023). Fields of study. https://opendoorsdata.org/data/international-students/fields-of-study/. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
James-MacEachern, M., & Yun, D. (2017). Exploring factors influencing international students’ decision to choose a higher education institution: A comparison between Chinese and other students. International Journal of Educational Management, 31(3), 343–363. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-11-2015-0158
Jaschik, S. (2021, April 19). Ex-dean at Temple indicted on charges of manipulating rankings. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/04/19/ex-dean-temple-indicted-charges-manipulating-rankings. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Jones, W. A. (2016). Do college rankings matter? Examining the influence of “America’s Best Black Colleges” on HBCU undergraduate admissions. American Journal of Education, 122(2), 247–265. https://doi.org/10.1086/684550
Katsumoto, S., Nakahara, L., & Bowman, N. A. (2024). The introduction of the Times Higher Education Japan university rankings and changes in institutional admissions outcomes. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 54(2), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2022.209
Kaycheng, S. (2015). Multicollinearity and indicator redundancy problem in world university rankings: An example using the Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2013–2014 data. Higher Education Quarterly, 69(2), 158–174. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12058
Kim, D., Bankart, C. A., Jiang, X., & Brazil, A. M. (2018). Understanding the college choice process of Asian international students. In Y. Ma & M. A. Garcia-Murillo (Eds.), Understanding international students from Asia in American universities (pp. 15–41). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60394-0_2
Luca, M., & Smith, J. (2013). Salience in quality disclosure: Evidence from the US News college rankings. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 22(1), 58–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/jems.12003
Mazzarol, T., & Soutar, G. N. (2002). “Push-pull” factors influencing international student destination choice. International Journal of Educational Management, 16(2), 82–90. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540210418403
McMahon, M. E. (1992). Higher education in a world market: An historical look at the global context of international study. Higher Education, 24(4), 465–482. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3447582. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Meredith, M. (2004). Why do universities compete in the ratings game? An empirical analysis of the effects of the U.S. News and World Report college rankings. Research in Higher Education, 45(5), 443–461. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:RIHE.0000032324.46716.f4
Mok, K. H. (2015). Higher education transformations for global competitiveness: Policy responses, social consequences and impact on the academic profession in Asia. Higher Education Policy, 28(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2014.27
Monks, J., & Ehrenberg, R. G. (1999). U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings: Why they do matter, change. Change: the Magazine of Higher Learning, 31(6), 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091389909604232
National Center of Education Statistics (n.d.) Definitions for new race and ethnicity categories. https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/report-your-data/race-ethnicity-definitions. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Paris, J. (2016). A road map for measuring graduate enrollment management success. NAGAP Perspectives, 28(1), 8–12. https://issuu.com/kellendoc/docs/nagap_perspectives_spring_2016_web. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Patel, V. (2017). Prospective international students show new reluctance to study in the U.S. Chronicle for Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/prospective-international-students-show-new-reluctance-to-study-in-the-u-s/b. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Paulino, M. A., & Castaño, M. C. N. (2019). Exploring factors influencing international students’ choice. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 8(s3), 131–149.
Perry, D. M. (2022, September 14). Opinion: What Columbia’s college ranking debacle reveals. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/14/opinions/columbia-university-ranking-perry. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Phang, S. L. (2013). Factors influencing international students’ study destination decision abroad [Master’s thesis, University of Gothenburg]. Gothenburg University Library. http://hdl.handle.net/2077/32136. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Rine, P. J. (2016). A shell game by any other name: The economics and rationale behind tuition discounting. jCENTER for Innovative Higher Education. https://www.cehd.umn.edu/OLPD/PCLN/Rine-WhitePaper.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Rocconi, L. M., & Boyd, A. T. (2022). Measuring quality in legal education: Examining the relationship between law school rank and student engagement. Research in Higher Education, 63(7), 1261–1282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-022-09682-y
Rumbley, L. E., & de Wit, H. (2017). International faculty mobility: Crucial and understudied. International Higher Education, 88(January), 6–8. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2017.88.9681
Schertzer, C. B., & Schertzer, S. M. (2004). Student satisfaction and retention: A conceptual model. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 14(1), 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1300/J050v14n01_05
Schmidt, A. (2020). Are international students getting a bang for their buck?: The relationship between expenditures and international student graduation rates. Journal of International Students, 10(3), 646–663. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v10i3.1279
Silver, L. (2021, December 6). Amid pandemic, international student enrollment at U.S. universities fell 15% in the 2020–21 school year. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/12/06/amid-pandemic-international-student-enrollment-at-u-s-universities-fell-15-in-the-2020-21-school-year/#:~:text=Fewer%20than%201%20million%20foreign,at%20American%20higher%20educational%20institutions. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Soh, K. (2017). The seven deadly sins of world university ranking: A summary from several papers. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 39(1), 104–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2016.1254431
Soysal, Y. N., Baltaru, R. D., & Cebolla-Boado, H. (2022). Meritocracy or reputation? The role of rankings in the sorting of international students across universities. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 1–12. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2070131
Statistics Canada. (2021). Prior to COVID-19, international students accounted for the growth in postsecondary enrolments and graduates. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/211124/dq211124d-eng.htm. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Toppo, G. (2019, March 20). Why do colleges die? Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/20/white-paper-debt-tuition-dependence-doom-small-colleges. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (2022, June 3). Optional practical training extension for STEM students (STEM OPT). USCIS. https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/optional-practical-training-extension-for-stem-students-stem-opt. Accessed 7 Mar 2024.
Van Alebeek, W., & Wilson, K. B. (2019). Explaining the college choice decisions of international students at a regional university in the United States. Journal of Research in International Education, 18(3), 292–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240919892468
Zhang, L. (2010). The use of panel data models in higher education policy studies. In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Volume 25, pp. 307–349). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8598-6_8
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
There are no known conflicts of interest for this manuscript, and we do not have financial support for this research that could have influenced its outcome.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Katsumoto, S., Bowman, N.A. & Tennessen, N.F. The role of rankings in shaping the institutional enrollment of international students. High Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01208-y
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01208-y