New international student enrollments in US plunge this year, data shows | Trump administration

The number of international students enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities has declined this year as the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown on higher education tightens, data released Monday showed.

New international student enrollments have fallen 17% in the current academic year; This was the biggest decline in more than a decade outside of the Covid-19 pandemic. a snapshot of autumn Published by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

the following one 7.2% decrease for the 2024/25 academic yearThe final months of the Biden administration have been bisected by the first few months of Trump’s second term, where his assault on foreign students in higher education has included visa revocations and interview cancellations, deportations and cuts to university funding.

More than half of institutions surveyed for the 2025/26 academic year, 57 per cent, said new enrollments had fallen, while 27 per cent said the drop in numbers was “significant”.

“Concerns about the visa application process, such as visa delays and denials, have long been considered by institutions to be the most significant factor in denying admissions,” the IIE snapshot stated, noting that in its report from a year ago, 85% of institutions cited visa application concerns as the main issue in new enrollment declines.

This number increased to 96% in the fall of 2025.

“Additionally, institutions indicate that students’ concerns about not feeling welcome in the United States (67%) or the broader social and political environment (64%) may have influenced new enrollments.”

“A close reading of enrollment figures from last year and this fall shows that the global talent pipeline in the United States is in a precarious position,” said Fanta Aw, executive director and chief executive of Nafsa: International Association of Educators. in a statementHe noted that international students contribute $42.9 billion annually to the U.S. economy and support more than 355,000 jobs.

“There are alarming declines that we ignore at our peril. Other countries are creating effective incentives to capitalize on our mistakes. The United States must adopt more proactive policies to attract and retain the world’s best and brightest…otherwise international students will increasingly choose to go elsewhere, harming our economy, excellence in research and innovation, and global competitiveness and inclusion.”

Overseas students make up about 6% of the total U.S. college population, and the Trump administration has doggedly tried to reduce that number.

In August, the White House announced a policy that would limit the length of time student visa holders can stay in the United States. Trump has previously tried to completely prevent some institutions, such as Harvard, from accepting foreign students. blocked by permanent injunction from a federal judge.

Many of Trump’s attacks have been financially motivated; was to threaten or withhold federal funds until institutions capitulated to his demands over perceived anti-Semitism on campuses. Columbia University in New York, which was the scene of pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year in which students were arrested and threatened with deportation, passed changes in March that would restore $400 million in federal funding.

The IIE, a nonpartisan organization, compares the decline in foreign student enrollment to the total number of international students in the U.S., according to its Open Doors 2025 report released Monday; The autumn report says this figure remains stable, rising by 5% to almost 1.2 million in the 2024/25 academic year.

“The United States remains the preferred destination for international students from more than 200 backgrounds around the world,” said Mirka Martel, the organization’s head of research, evaluation and learning, noting that students from India, China and South Korea make up the largest percentage despite Trump’s various restrictions.

“International students are coming to every state. And 45 states experienced an increase in their international student total in 2024/25.”

But other experts say the figures ring alarm bells. “There are warning signs for years to come, and I’m really concerned about what this portends for fall ’26 and ’27,” Clay Harmon, executive director of the International Enrollment Management Association, which represents colleges and recruiting agencies, told the Associated Press.