Inta Morris and Mark Hallett: “Foreign Student Contribution to Higher Education and the Impact of COVID-19”

International students are a crucial element in the quality of U.S. education and research, and for the pool of talent in U.S. industry. Foreign students contributed $45 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018 and 458,000 jobs. including $400 million and 6,000 jobs to the Colorado economy.

Columbia University estimates that 30-40% of the 1.1 million foreign students in the U.S. might not attend this year due to COVID-19, a loss of 400,000 students and $15 billion. Most foreign students pay the full cost of their education, in essence subsidizing the cost for local students.

Inta Morris joined the Department in 2007 and since then has served in several senior positions. In 2018, she took over the role of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial officer. She also developed and continues to run StudyColorado, an initiative of the state, its institutions of higher education and the business community focused on promoting Colorado as a higher education destination to international students.

Mark Hallett is responsible for management of staff, budget, programs and services for international students and scholars. CSU had 2300 foreign students and over 225 foreign scholars from over 110 countries in 2019 at its Fort Collins campus, with a total of over 34,000 students enrolled last academic year.