14 hours ahead: COVID-19 presents unique challenges to international students

All students were impacted by COVID-19 to some degree, but international students faced some big decisions in the face of the pandemic. Some decided to take classes remotely while others opted to take a break from education altogether, decreasing international student enrollment at Ohio State.

By Sue Han Kim

Published June 17, 2021

Amanda Li always knew she wanted to work in the consulting industry and investment banking in China, but COVID-19 threw a wrench in earning the degree she needed to do so.

Li, a third-year in finance, was involved on campus. She was an editor for the Korean Broadcasting Station during her first two years and was enjoying her campus life just like any other college student.

Then, COVID-19 struck and everything changed dramatically. Li’s goal was to graduate in four years and she didn’t want to stop her education due to the pandemic.

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Like many of her peers, she decided to continue taking classes, but from a place where she felt safe from the pandemic. Li spent two semesters taking virtual instruction in her hometown of Chengdu, China — 7,534 miles from Ohio State.

Becoming an upperclassman meant taking on more advanced courses. Upper-level courses are hard for anyone, but for Li, who took Corporate Finance at 3:15 a.m., it felt even more difficult.

“The experience is kind of terrible,” Li said. “I always stay up all night to take the courses and exams. It’s so hard to focus and learn in the midnight that I believe my study efficiency is not as good as before.”

Li is not the only one struggling from pandemic-induced changes. Many international students were faced with a hard decision: whether to continue their higher education.

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An analysis of student enrollment data at Ohio State shows that the number of international students dropped over 20 percent in the past two years. Undergraduate enrollment dropped from 3,924 to 2,984 between fall 2019 and spring 2021.

The top three countries with the biggest drops were China, Malaysia and South Korea. Ohio State lost one in four Chinese students, one in five Korean students and half of Malaysian students between fall 2019 and spring 2021.

The drop in international student enrollment at Ohio State between fall 2019 and spring 2021.

While some students chose not to continue at Ohio State at all, others chose to take fully online classes, physically distanced from campus.

“In the United States, the epidemic is not fully under control and in China, you can spend more time with your family,” Ria Wu, a third-year in finance, said March 16. Wu took her classes in China during the 2020-21 academic year and worked as a data analysis intern at China Youzan, an investment holding company.

During the academic year, Ria Wu worked as a data analysis intern at China Youzan, an investment holding company.

Courtesy of Ria Wu

Throughout the pandemic, Ohio State realized the challenges its international students faced and tried to support them, university spokesperson Ben Johnson said in an email. Instructors were encouraged to accommodate students who may have had Wi-Fi issues or taken classes from other time zones.

A drop in enrollment

Enrollment data paints a dire picture of the university throughout the pandemic as Ohio State lost a great deal of students.

In spring 2020, before COVID-19 broke out, 3,087 Chinese students were enrolled to take undergraduate classes.

In the following fall semester, only 2,681 students were enrolled. The university lost 13 percent of undergraduate Chinese students, according to enrollment reports.

Students from South Korea, a country that suffered early on from the coronavirus, also showed a dramatic drop in enrollment: 80 undergraduate students in spring 2020 to 63 students in the fall — a 21 percent decrease.

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Enrollment data is not the only indicator of change among Asian students at Ohio State. Among those still enrolled at the university are students like Li who chose to take classes fully online at home.

Yew Li, vice president of the Undergraduate Chinese Student Organization, said 13 out of 93 students from the organization were physically in Columbus this year during spring semester.

Haeun Song, president of Korean International Student Organization, said 40 out of 55 Korean students from the organization were in Columbus.

In other words, 72.7 percent of KISO members were in Columbus, whereas only 13.97 percent of UCSO students were in Columbus. There are a few circumstances international students said influenced their decision on whether or not to physically return to campus.

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“As an international student, I don’t have proper medical insurance in America. So if I get COVID-19 in America, it will be a hard situation,” Subin Cho, a fourth-year in East Asian languages and literatures who took her classes in Korea for the 2020-21 academic year, said.

Amanda Li said a United States policy requiring people traveling from China to stop over in a third country made it harder for Chinese students to return to campus.

“There is a policy that requires Chinese to stay in a third country for 14 days before going back to America. So, taking flight back to USA is kind of dangerous and troublesome,” Amanda Li said.

Challenges for international students in Asia

A common issue these students faced while adjusting to distance learning was the time difference. If the class didn’t provide a recorded version of the lecture or required attendance, students had no choice but to stay up late to attend lectures.

“For me, there are more specialized courses and more real-time live courses in this semester. It is very upsetting for me to attend classes after jet lag,” Wu said, referencing this year’s spring semester.

Attending classes is not the only problem. Besides staying up late, students had to be extra cautious with their school schedules. Jimin Kim, a third-year in psychology who took online classes during the 2020-21 academic year in Korea, said it was difficult keeping track of assignment deadlines in American time.

Kim said online classes also took away opportunities to interact with others in class.

“It was inconvenient to set appointment with professors separately and it was a bummer to lose the opportunity to get to know classmates and professors in person,” Kim said.

Sunghoon Jin, a third-year in air transportation who stopped his education at the beginning of the pandemic, said virtual learning is not worth the money he would have to pay.

“Proper interaction and learning seem to be limited, ” Jin said.

Sunghoon Jin visits Jeju island in South Korea while on holiday.

Courtesy of Sunghoon Jin

The issue of time and limited resources left no choice for some students but to stop their studies for this year’s spring semester, following problems in the fall.

“I had 14-hour time difference. Three of my classes wasn’t recorded so I had to take classes until dawn. During semester, I was very tired because my days and nights mixed up,” Yoo Jin Jeong, a second-year in data analytics who took online classes in the fall of 2020, but opted out of taking courses the following spring semester, said.

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How Ohio State tried to manage the issues

Ohio State was aware of the difficulties international students faced with distance learning, including issues related to time differences, Ben Johnson said in an email.

Ben Johnson said the university asked instructors to be flexible with international students and consider recording lecture content and making it available for those in another time zone.

Instructors were also told to keep in mind there could be internet connection issues. In China, there are network restrictions, so students are forced to use a VPN, which is likely to cause weak internet connections.

“The university has worked to support these students in a number of ways,” Ben Johnson said. “Faculty and instructors have been flexible when possible given the differences in time zones and connectivity issues.”

To assist international students taking online courses from their homes, Ben Johnson said Ohio State also increased messaging to students in order to deliver resources and support for online learning.

What’s next?

In December 2020, COVID-19 vaccinations began in the United States. Coronavirus cases in the state of Ohio have dropped rapidly since, from 5,099 cases Jan. 1 to 2,035 cases as of April 1, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Now, 5.47 million Ohioans –– 46.85 percent of the state’s population –– have received at least the first dose of their vaccine and the Ohio Department of Health reported only 125 new cases Tuesday.

Ohio State is planning to have students return to campus for the upcoming fall semester.

“Our campuses will be reinvigorated with activity in classrooms, labs, studios and throughout the Ohio State experience,” Kristina Johnson said in the email.

The university urges students to get vaccinated and voluntarily share their vaccination status to better determine the overall vaccination rate and relax health requirements, Kristina Johnson said.

Vaccinations began in the United States in December 2020 and Ohio State is planning to have students return for the fall semester.

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The decrease in COVID-19 cases in the United States is making Amanda Li feel safer to return to campus for the fall.

“I will go back to America next semester,” Amanda Li said. “I will go back to OSU.”

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Artwork by Marcy Paredes.