Colleges in Idaho and beyond could face a new brain drain — born of political tension.

As international students reconsider attending colleges in the United States, other English-speaking nations are eagerly snapping them up.

“(They) are delighted to welcome these students into their nations,” said David Douglass, president of The College of Idaho. Douglass spoke Tuesday at a City Club of Boise panel on uncertainties facing Idaho higher education.

International students have been a growing presence at the C of I, a Caldwell-based liberal arts college serving an enrollment of about 1,100.

In past years, international students have accounted for about 15% of overall enrollment — with students coming from 65 nations. Many of these students are refugees or are fleeing genocide in their native lands.

Douglass had been hoping C of I’s international enrollment would eventually reach the 20% plateau. But now, with overseas students no longer seeing the United States as a safe destination, international enrollment is falling “precipitously,” he said, leaving the 20% goal out of reach.

The decline in international enrollment also hurts the in-state students who make up about 60% of C of I’s student body. A global student population offers an enriching environment for in-state students, Douglass said.

“It is possibly the most transformative experience they can have at college,” he said.

The University of Idaho is also experiencing a decline in international enrollment. And for the public university — which has already absorbed a 3% budget cut last summer and now faces additional cuts — the loss of international students has a bottom-line impact. When international students pay full, out-of-state tuition, they essentially subsidize in-state students, said Chandra Zenner Ford, the CEO of the U of I’s Boise and Southwest Idaho operations.

“It’s another (funding) piece that’s essentially cut this year,” she said.