How Universities Can Help Africans Get an F-1 Student Visa
Key takeaways: International students on American campuses are increasingly coming from countries, like those in Africa, where visas are difficult to obtain. Universities and recruiters must adapt to this new reality to better support their students – and to prepare for the 2024 intake year.
In the previous edition of MPOWERed Insights, we discussed how the classroom of 2023 will include more students from India and Africa and fewer students from China. In this edition of MPOWERed Insights, we’ll explore what college and university admissions officials can do to support students from Africa with the financial and immigration barriers they face.
Africa Accelerating
African enrollment is booming. In the first seven months of 2023, enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities surged 16% compared with 2022, led by Nigeria (22%) and Ghana (57%), according to figures published by the U.S. Department of State. These two countries account for almost the entirety of African student growth in 2022.
F-1 visas granted to African students
NOTE: Data is from January to July of each year
Source: U.S. Department of State
Despite these gains, African students must contend with far higher visa rejection rates than their classmates in other countries. A report by Shorelight Education and the President’s Alliance on Immigration and Higher Education found that only 46% of F-1 student visas from Africa were approved in 2022. In Western Africa (the region that includes Nigeria and Ghana), approval rates were only 29%.
F-1 visa approval rates, 2022
Source: Shorelight Education and the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
The low approval rates for African students is particularly stark when compared with their peers from other countries: South American students, for example, enjoyed visa approval rates of 76%.
High visa rejection rates are estimated to have cost the United States over 92,000 students from 2018 to 2022. This loss is particularly painful because African students overwhelmingly flock to engineering and other STEM fields, according to research from MPOWER Financing and a report by the Institute of International Education. Over two-thirds of African students who receive MPOWER student loans are pursuing a STEM education, positioning them perfectly to fill vacant roles in the U.S. labor force.
Solving the visa hurdle
At MPOWER, we’ve consulted with numerous current and former consular officials about how students can successfully attain an F-1 visa, and we help guide our students through the visa process by holding webinars featuring immigration attorneys and former visa officers.
These officials have a number of other practical recommendations for students undergoing the visa interview process:
- Dress professionally for the interview.
- Practice answering common questions out loud, either alone or with a friend or family member, to help improve confidence and composure during the interview.
- Arrive on time with a positive attitude, ready to speak confidently and clearly about your educational goals.
- Share that you plan to participate as permitted in Optional Practical Training (OPT), if that’s the case, when discussing plans after graduation.
To calm nerves, it’s also helpful for students to remember that countless students before them have been successful with the visa interview process. Despite concerns about low approval rates, more students are successfully obtaining visas than ever before.
New financing solutions can help
In recent years, universities have routinely told us they see a surge in interest and enrollment from Africa but these students struggle with finances. Many of these students request assistance to fund the entirety of their education – but even after these students assemble the required funding, they often still struggle to obtain a visa.
To resolve the financial challenges, institutions often present prospective students, through their website and other communications, a long list of scholarships and trusted loan options. University recruitment officials are increasingly speaking with their counterparts in the financial aid office to understand what financing options are available to students and often present them clearly on their websites and in marketing materials.
These resources could include MPOWER Financing, which provides scholarships and no-cosigner loans for students from around the world, and informational sites that provide scholarship and loan options, such as internationalscholarships.com, internationalstudentloan.com, eduPASS.org and elmselect.com.
Leveraging U.S. financing to ace the visa
For students using a loan to study abroad, we’ve learned that visa officers prefer students to have financial statements and loan documents that are denominated in U.S. dollars, issued by a U.S. firm and that are under the student’s name (rather than that of a parent or relative). MPOWER loan documents fulfill all of these criteria and support the student in obtaining a visa to the U.S.
F-1 visa approval rates for students from select nations
Source: MPOWER Financing, Shorelight Education and the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
Source: MPOWER Financing, Shorelight Education and the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
“MPOWER’s experience shows that a concerted effort to guide students through the visa process can lead to substantially higher visa attainment rates.”
How universities can get African students into school
We’re proud to help our student loan recipients in any way possible, but we’d also recommend that more universities and other institutions offer support in helping students navigate the visa process. This could include providing additional guidance for students undergoing the visa process through checklists, interview tips and best practices and helping them to arrange the requisite documentation. MPOWER’s experience shows that a concerted effort to guide students through the visa process can lead to substantially higher visa attainment rates.
We also recommend that universities expand the list of financial resources shared with students to include companies that lend to international students, help them cover education costs and smooth the way for visa approvals.
Every international student, whether from Africa or elsewhere, deserves a fair shot at realizing their full educational and career potential. With more hands on deck, we hope that more students from Africa can fulfill their educational dreams of studying in the United States.
