Students walk on the Saint Louis University campus in St. Louis on August 19, 2020. A new report shows U.S. colleges and universities saw a 17% decline in new international student enrollments in the 2025-26 school year. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo
The enrollment rates of new international students at U.S. colleges and universities fell by 17% in the 2025-26 school year compared to the year prior amid efforts by the Trump administration to limit immigration, a report released Monday indicates.
The 17% decline was the largest single-year drop in new international student enrollments in the past 11 years, aside from 2020-21, which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the report by IIE’s Open Doors said.
Of the 825 institutions surveyed for the report, more than half said they had a decrease in new international student enrollment for the latest school year.
The overall enrollment of international students on U.S. campuses, though, was largely steady, declining by 1% from the 2024-2025 school year. Undergraduate enrollments were up by 2% while graduate enrollments declined by 12%.
Of the institutions surveyed, 96% said difficulties obtaining a U.S. visa contributed to the decline, while 68% cited travel restrictions.
The Open Doors report was published by the Institute of International Education, a non-profit organization that promotes educational exchange between countries, and funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, said difficulties obtaining a U.S. visa has made U.S. institutions of higher education “less competitive.”
“The U.S. is no longer the central place that students aspire to come to,” Aw said.
New data also released Monday by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, said there was a 2% decline in economic spending by international students in the 2024-25 school year compared to the year prior.
Overall, international students contributed $42.9 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2024-25 school year and supported more than 355,000 jobs. The figures for the 2025-26 are not yet available.
Since the start of his second term, Trump has made efforts to make it more difficult for international students to attend U.S. schools. In August, the Department of Homeland Security announced a new rule capping the length of stay for international students.
Trump has also used international student enrollment as leverage against universities whose policies he disagrees with. In May, the administration blocked Harvard University from accepting international students — a decision that has since been revoked by the courts — amid a fight over anti-Israeli protests on campus.
