Does the Statue of Liberty Still Face Out? - The Diversion of Foreign Students from the United States to Canada in the Post 9/11 Period

Oct 15, 2026

The September 11, 2001 attacks intensified scrutiny of immigrants and non-immigrants entering the United States, including foreign students on temporary visas. The study compares trends in foreign student numbers and documents a decline, particularly among students from predominantly Muslim countries. In contrast, Canada relaxed entry requirements for some foreign students and Canadian universities increased recruitment. Results indicate foreign enrolment in Canada rose after 9/11, but the analysis cannot establish causality from U.S. immigration policy changes, underscoring the need for improved data.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction and background

Foreign student scrutiny and entry restrictions

Potential impacts on universities and labour markets

CSSHE SCÉES Canadian Journal of Higher Education Revue canadienne d’enseignement supérieur Volume 39, No. 1, 2009, pages 15-43 [www.ingentaconnect.com/content/csshe/cjhe](www.ingentaconnect.com/content/csshe/cjhe) Does the Statue of Liberty Still Face Out? 1 The Diversion of Foreign Students from the United States to Canada in the Post 9/11 Period Richard E. Mueller University of Lethbridge AbstrAct The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have resulted in the increased scrutiny of both immigrants and non-immigrants entering the United States. The latter group includes students who enter the country on temporary visas to complete programs of higher education. Depending on the source, the number of foreign students in the United States has remained constant or fallen since 2001, and there has been a large decline among students from predominantly Muslim countries. Canada, by contrast, has relaxed its entry requirements for some foreign students and there has been a concerted effort among Canadian universities to increase foreign student enrolment. We find that the number of foreign students in Canada did increase following 9/11, especially those from predominantly Muslim countries. We discuss some of the implications of this increase in foreign students for Canadian universities and the Canadian labour market. Although these results support the hypothesis that changes in U.S. immigration policy are responsible, causality cannot be inferred from our data. This underlines the need for better data to adequately address the post-secondary education choices of international students. résumé Les attaques terroristes du 11 septembre 2001, ont entraîné unevérification plus minutieuse des immigrants et non-immigrants entrant 16 CJHE / RCES Volume 39, No. 1, 2009 aux États-Unis. Le dernier groupe est composé des personnes qui entrent aux États-Unis, avec des visas provisoires, dans le but de suivre des études supérieures. Tout dépendamment de la source, le nombre deces étudiants est demeuré constant ou a diminué . Le plus grand déclinest constaté parmi les étudiants en provenance des pays musulmans. Contrairement aux États-Unis, le Canada rend ses conditions d’admissibilité moins contraignantes pour certains étudiants étrangers. De plus, il y a eu un effort concerté parmi les universités canadiennes d’augmenter l’inscription des étudiants étrangers. Nous constatons que le nombre d’étudiants étrangers au Canada a augmenté suite aux événements du 9/11, particulièrement ceux des pays à prédominance musulmane. Nous discutons des implications de cette augmentation pour les universités canadiennes et le marché du travail canadien. Bien que l’hypothèse que les changements de la politique américaine enmatière d’immigration en soient les responsables, la causalité n’est pas démontrée par nos données. Ceci souligne le besoin de meilleures données pour démontrer de manière plus adéquate le choix des étudiants internationaux en matière d’éducation post-secondaire. IntroductIon And bAckground Since the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, there has been a concerted effort by the United States to restrict access to foreign nationals who are deemed to pose a threat to its security. Although foreign students who enter the United States are not restricted by numerical limits, they are subjected to increased scrutiny (Szelenyi, 2003) and may perceive the academic environment in the United States to be less hospitable (Altbach, 2004) . Students from the Middle East, especially those from predominantly Muslim countries (hereafter PMCs) most closely identified with terrorism, may undergo even greater scrutiny when entering the country. This heightened scrutiny may well have an impact on permanent immigration to the United States, but it will certainly have a profound effect on those seeking admission using shortterm (or non-immigrant) visas, such as students (Camarota, 2002) . The likely outcome is that fe

FAQs

What change did the United States introduce after September 11, 2001 regarding foreign entrants?

The United States increased scrutiny of immigrants and non-immigrants, including students entering on temporary visas, even without numerical limits.

How did foreign student trends differ between the United States and Canada after 9/11?

The number of foreign students in the United States stayed constant or fell, with a large decline among students from predominantly Muslim countries, while Canada saw an increase after 9/11.

Why can’t the study infer causality from its data?

The results support the hypothesis that U.S. immigration policy changes contributed to the shift, but the analysis cannot establish causality with the available data, requiring better data.

Oct 15, 2026

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