International undergraduates were part of many schools’ plans for sustainability. A new government rule changes that.
It seemed like a door had opened.
Providence University College and Theological Seminary in Manitoba started an associate’s degree program that could be marketed to international students. To president Kenton Anderson’s delight, the two-year degree attracted a significant number of applicants eager to study in Canada. Several hundred students enrolled.
For the private evangelical school, that generated significant revenue and helped further fulfill the mission of spreading the gospel around the world.
Providence made plans to grow the program—could they attract 500 international students? 600? 700?—and bought an apartment building in nearby Winnipeg to provide increased student housing.
Then, a single government decision closed that door.
Canada’s federal government announced new restrictions on undergraduate international students in January 2024. When the rules take effect this fall, the total number will be reduced by about 35 percent.
Providence was anticipating several hundred new international students. Now, when the semester starts the first week of September, the school will only greet about 20.
“It’s many millions of dollars of revenue just gone,” Anderson told CT. “And, of course, as a private tuition-funded Christian school, it’s not like we have a lot of that money lying around.”
According to the Canadian government, there are several reasons to reduce the number of international students at Canadian colleges and universities. Officials said they were concerned that lax admissions were diminishing the quality of the country’s education.
“We want to ensure that international students are successful and to tackle the issues that make students …
