In November this year, Trump was re-elected for a second presidential term. With higher education, immigration, and the economy all much-debated topics in the run-up to the election, we were curious about what Trump’s success meant for MBA programs, students, and applicants.
To find out more, we turned to our Clear Admit community of prospective MBA applicants. We wanted to gauge the general sentiment in the applicant pool with regards to the re-election; to take a quick temperature check on the thoughts and opinions held. As well as getting a sense of the re-election’s impact, we wanted to discover whether it has affected MBA applicants’ enthusiasm for US-based programs.
Our Research Process
We ran a short ‘spot survey’ for our Clear Admit community of prospective MBA applicants; nearly 200 people answered. While we allowed any community members to answer, we focused our promotion of the survey on non-US citizens due to our desire to learn more about their views on post-MBA work opportunities and visas. As a result, the vast majority of survey respondents were non-US citizens (over 70%), but a significant chunk were US citizens (27%).
The survey asked our community about topics such as specific policy changes under the Trump administration, working in the US, and applicant interest in pursuing an MBA outside of the US.
What Did We Learn?
1. Concerns Are High
There was a marked concern over whether foreigners would be able to stay in the US under the new administration—even if they wanted to. The doubts around work visas, student visas, STEM designations, and OPTs rang alarm bells for well over half—sometimes up to 77%—of our non-US citizen respondents.
At the same time, some respondents disagreed with these concerns, saying that “Trump’s policy on migration isn’t targeted at those who do it legitimately. In fact, his policies are looking good post-MBA.”
Also running through the data we collected and the responses we received was a thread, a collective concern over the social and political climate that the new administration would cultivate. And that was a worry that the attitude towards foreigners in the US would become hostile under Trump’s presidency. Of the US citizens who answered our survey, 28% expressed concern over this issue. Of the non-US citizens who answered, 50% were concerned.
Our community added detail to their answers, explaining their worries about the normalization of violence, racist rhetoric, and about the threats to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. One student mentioned that, as a Chinese person, they felt apprehensive about “being targeted as a ‘spy’ or in general being barred from learning cutting edge stuff, which is honestly the whole point of studying abroad.” Another simply said: “Hostility against Muslims!”
2. Looking at MBAs Outside the US?
A few members of the Clear Admit community had been considering MBAs outside of the US even before news of the Trump election hit. Numbers, however, were pretty low—only nine percent for US citizens and even less for non-US citizens.
When we asked the community whether the new administration specifically impacted their decision to consider MBA programs outside of the US, the numbers skyrocketed. Over half of non-US citizens claimed that Trump’s policies “definitely” or “possibly” had an impact here, a statistic that is likely to have implications for both US and non-US business schools. The reasons we unearthed for applicants turning their sights to non-US programs circled similar topics—visa changes, hostility towards foreigners, and hiring reductions. “Even if no policy change is implemented,” one student explained, “employers might be worried that those changes will eventually be implemented. Therefore, I think things will be more challenging as an international because, surely, propensity to hire internationals will decrease.”
It’s worth noting here that, despite the increased consideration of non-US based MBA programs, the US is still the dream for many applicants. 70% of US citizens and 40% of non-US citizens stated that they would still prioritize US-based business schools when applying.
3. Not Everyone Sees Trump’s Re-election as Negative
Amongst the respondents, opinions on the positive or negative impact of Trump’s re-election varied. Some held fast to their US MBA dreams, explaining that they were still “convinced [of] the value of an MBA in the US,” but taking care to qualify that “that doesn’t mean I’m not concerned.” Some were utterly unfazed by the re-election, claiming that it “does not change anything for me” or that “the standard and quality of education will remain unchanged.” And some went even further, reflecting positively on Trump’s impact on MBAs and explaining that the new administration makes it “easier to stay in the US for [the] short term, to experience the life, repay the loans and go back to home countries.”
The Differences Between US and Non-US Citizens
US and non-US citizens might have different perspectives on the election results…
The level of concern expressed by the respondents to our survey varied according to whether they were US or non-US citizens. As one might expect, there was particular divergence around topics that related to student visas, work visas, or other details pertaining to the possibility of staying in the US both during and after an MBA program.
On the whole, US citizens seemed relatively unfazed by changes to visas and STEM designations, while these were areas of great concern for the majority of non-US citizens. Non-US citizens were also more likely to describe the impact of Trump’s re-election on their MBA decision as negative; US citizens were more positive and more polarized, with equal weighting at either end of the “very negative” to “very positive” scale. 
The difference echoes a wariness amongst non-US citizens to join US-based MBA programs under the new administration. The aforementioned concern over increased hostility feeds into this hesitation; as one non-US citizen explained, the confluence of unwelcoming environments and visa policies may well act to “turn me away.”
… But the Re-election Impacts Them Both
The perspectives from which US and non-US citizens approach Trump’s re-elections vary, resulting in diverging levels of concerns over the policies his administration will introduce. That said, the election result undoubtedly impacts both groups.
The issues that we have explored above and which are likely to affect the ability and willingness of non-US citizens to pursue an MBA in the US—the changes to student visas, work visas, and STEM designations, for example, as well as the hostility towards foreigners—will also result in changes for US citizens. If less foreign students choose US-based MBA programs, learning environments are likely to be less diverse and less international. US-based business schools might well be concerned about the possibility for a drop in international applications. We can only wait and see how the new administration impacts class profiles–and the future of business education.
