Exploring the Relationship Between International Student Enrollment at US Higher Education Institutions and Mass Shootings

Recently, international education practitioners and scholars have suggested that gun violence in the United States deters international student enrollment. This study explores the relationship between shootings in a higher education institution's state and city and subsequent new international student enrollment in the following year. Drawing from push-pull theory, we expected that international students’ concerns around safety in a host institution environment would deter them from enrolling at institutions in areas with recent mass shootings. Counter to expectation, our results suggest that gun violence in an institution's city or state does not have a significant relationship with new international student enrollment. These results have implications for our understanding of international student mobility patterns and the point at which concerns around safety and violence in their prospective host environments come into play for international students.