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A single graduate program website at UBC received >30,000 hits between midnight and 3am PST after the US election — Santa J. Ono (@ubcprez) November 9, 2016

And a number of American publications have reported that U.S. universities fear that Trump’s election promises about vetting people coming into the country and possible restrictions on Muslims and other immigrant groups will drive international students to other English-speaking countries such as Canada and Australia.

Rahul Choudaha, who co-founded U.S.-based interEDGE.org, which specializing in helping international students, said he agrees the Trump administration’s likely future policies “will start looking inward and slow down international education exchanges and student mobility.”

He added that one of the key reasons why students choose to study abroad, whether they are from China, India, or the Middle East, is to advance their career opportunities. In that sense, the challenge with a Trump administration is not only in policies that specifically target student visas, but also in the general mood against employing someone who isn’t born in the U.S., he said.

“One of the core values of international education is about celebrating diversity, and learning from differences,” Choudaha said. “Trump’s viewpoints are insular and not in line with the values of international education.”

UBC East Asian Studies graduate Agnes Go-woon Kim, who returned to her native South Korea to get her Master’s degree and PhD at Seoul National University, had been looking at a postdoctoral fellowship program at institutions such as Cornell University in New York. But she says that is no longer the plan after Trump’s election.