evidence: International enrolments at US colleges and universities dropped precipitously last autumn amid strict quarantine requirements and widespread concern and confusion about federal rules on living in the country while studying online. Overall, international enrolment dropped 16 per cent, while new enrolments fell off a cliff, dropping 43 per cent. [...] However, several factors − including less openness in US policy as well as the growing wealth of countries such as China and India, and their concomitant investments in higher education − have conspired to change that. Now, Covid-19 may force an accelerated shift to a new model for international education: a move from the import to the export model. In fact, this year has set a precedent for this, with one in five international students at US institutions, and more than half of new ones, studying online from their home countries. Historically, efforts to export American higher education to other countries have been limited and have met with mixed success at best. We send significant numbers of US-trained PhDs back to their home countries but at nowhere near the levels needed to stand up institutions that could meet demand for US-style education. And branch campus models, like those in Qatar and the UAE, have generally come with exorbitant price tags and been met by significant red tape and disappointing enrolments.