Is it a Trump Bump, Spike, or Plateau? India's Changing Interest in Canadian Versus U.S. Universities

This article assesses changing interest from India in Canadian versus U.S. universities since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as measured by search activity reports from Google Trends. The findings indicate a rise in Indian interest toward Canadian versus U.S. universities was underway before the election. After controlling for this trend effect, there remains widespread evidence of a substantial shift in interest toward Canadian universities with search activity rising 70%-85% for Canadian versus U.S. universities in the postelection period. This shift in interest toward Canadian universities shows no sign of dissipating. Canadian universities are likely to make further enrollment gains of Indian students versus U.S. counterparts in upcoming recruiting classes.