Despite the heightened state of racial tensions in the United States, interest in the nation's higher education system remains strong among international students, the president of the oldest private university in California said.
Speaking to The Japan Times on Wednesday ahead of an academic conference in Tokyo this week, Dr. Max Nikias, president of the University of Southern California, said the institution's international student applicant pool grew by 5 percent this year.
"I would say a little bit of a tension has been there for the last three or four years. However, it's been intensified (in the) last year or so as a result of the latest presidential election," Nikias said, referring to the race that put Donald Trump in the White House.