Although overall international student enrollment has remained steady recently, student visa experts and university officials say this could change as the Trump administration tightens visa and immigration policies—policies that may dampen new international student enrollment.

Recent surveys and studies show a decline in new international student enrollment, suggesting that the Trump administration's policies may have already affected students' ability to enroll in U.S. universities for the fall 2025 semester.

Changes to U.S. visa and immigration policies are forcing universities to navigate "one of the most dynamic moments in the field of international education," said Fanta Aw, executive director of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, in an email.

"The ripple effects of these policy changes are reaching campuses and communities around the world," she said.

Experts note that for many universities, finding ways to recruit and welcome international students is crucial—such as expanding recruitment to different countries and offering flexibility in enrollment timing or tuition payment for international students.

Dick Startz, an economics professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said large universities and state institutions with high proportions of international students could suffer from losing them, but not as much as smaller colleges with very high shares of international students—many of which have religious affiliations.

Augustana College in Illinois, a small Lutheran institution, saw its new international enrollment for fall 2025 drop to 140 students, down 30 from the previous year. W. Kent Barnds, executive vice president for strategy and innovation, said international student applications fell by more than 10%.

Barnds attributed the decline to Trump administration policies, including a temporary suspension of student visa interviews last summer, and to students choosing to study elsewhere because they "perceive the United States as increasingly unwelcoming to international students."

Some universities have already announced budget cuts due to the loss of international students.

For example, DePaul University, a Catholic university in Chicago, said in a September letter to faculty and staff that its international student enrollment for fall 2025 fell by about 755 students year over year, with new international graduate student numbers down nearly 62%.

"Due to challenges in the visa system, combined with a decreased willingness of international students to study in the United States, we are seeing significant enrollment impacts across many areas of the university," wrote DePaul's senior leadership.

Startz said international students typically gravitate toward universities in English-speaking countries, especially the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. But he noted that he has heard Chinese education consultants are recommending students to English-taught programs in Hong Kong and Singapore, fearing students may not be able to obtain U.S. visas.

"We have a real opportunity right now to expand our market share, but our policies seem to be moving in the opposite direction," Startz said.

Policies that could hurt enrollment

President Trump has publicly expressed support for making the United States more open to international students. In a November interview with Fox News, Trump said restricting such enrollment would put many universities out of business. Months earlier, he said he would allow 600,000 Chinese students to attend U.S. universities—more than double the nearly 266,000 Chinese students in the United States during the 2024-25 academic year.

Yet despite these remarks, his administration's policies have moved in the opposite direction.

In May, the Trump administration ordered consulates to suspend scheduling student visa interviews so officials could develop stricter policies for vetting applicants' social media accounts. Officials eventually lifted the freeze in June, but during the suspension international students could not obtain visas at all, and a backlog subsequently developed, Startz said.

Because of the suspension, some students may not have received visas in time for fall enrollment, some may have decided to defer to spring, and others may have given up on coming to the United States altogether, Startz said.

Since the start of Trump's second administration, the State Department has revoked the visas of about 8,000 international students, including some involved in pro-Palestinian campus protests. This sends a discouraging signal to students that they could lose their visas for protesting on campus, said Sarah Spreitzer, vice president for government relations at the American Council on Education.

The administration has also cut federal research funding—according to Nature magazine, grant losses from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation totaled $1.4 billion in 2025. Trump has also issued executive orders giving political appointees oversight of grant approvals to ensure alignment with the administration's priorities.

These policies have left some international students in U.S. graduate programs uncertain whether they can continue to receive federal financial support—prompting them to consider leaving, Spreitzer said.

Meanwhile, countries such as China, France, and the European Union are actively recruiting researchers and graduate students currently in the United States, Spreitzer said.

Additionally, in August the Trump administration proposed a rule that would cap international students' time to complete their studies at four years, with extensions available, subject to "periodic reviews" by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This contrasts with current policy, which allows students to remain for the duration of their studies. The change has not been finalized.

Spreitzer noted that many students can complete an undergraduate degree in four years, but the proposal could prevent international students from pursuing double majors, studying abroad, or participating in cooperative education programs aimed at domestic students.

"Those who expect to study in the United States for six or seven years, taking classes and working in labs, could indeed be deterred if told they can only get a four-year visa," Startz said.

Decline in new international enrollment

Overall, total international enrollment has recently held steady according to the latest data, but federal policies appear to have already affected new enrollment.

Among 828 U.S. universities surveyed last fall, international student enrollment fell by only 1%. However, new international enrollment at these institutions dropped by a significant 17%, according to a report by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and 10 higher education partner organizations.

Another survey by NAFSA, Oxford English Testing, and Studyportals found that about 200 U.S. institutions saw an average 6% decline in new international undergraduate students and a 19% decline in new international master's students.

Both surveys linked the declines to U.S. visa policies. In the NAFSA report, 85% of surveyed institutions cited restrictive visa policies as a major barrier to recruiting international students, up from 58% in 2024.

A recent report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center also showed that international student enrollment in U.S. graduate programs fell by 10,000 students year over year in fall 2025, while undergraduate international enrollment rose slightly.

How universities are responding

According to the NAFSA report, 28% of institutions expect to cut budgets in the coming year in response to uncertainty in international enrollment.

However, Spreitzer said the impact of losing international students is not uniform across higher education, with some institutions facing larger declines and budget shocks.

Of course, this challenge is not the only issue universities face. They also must contend with reduced federal grants, overall uncertainty in federal funding, and changes to student loan programs. Some institutions are also facing enrollment declines due to a shrinking number of college-age students, Spreitzer said.

"International student enrollment is one piece of our institutions' financial puzzle," Spreitzer said.

Universities are addressing international recruitment challenges by tapping new markets, expanding online pathways, and strengthening partnerships with other universities, said Cara Skikne, head of communications and thought leadership at Studyportals, a foreign student recruitment agency involved in the NAFSA report.

For example, after losing new international students in the fall, Augustana College shifted its recruitment focus to countries with more available visa interview slots, Barnds said.

International student enrollment from China has declined recently, prompting some institutions to recruit more from other regions such as India or various African countries, Spreitzer said. According to IIE data, China is the second-largest source of international students to the United States, behind India.

The IIE Fall Snapshot shows that about half of U.S. institutions are focusing undergraduate recruitment on Vietnam and India, with nearly 40% prioritizing Brazil and South Korea. At the graduate level, 57% are focusing on India, 32% on Vietnam, and 28% on both China and Bangladesh.

The NAFSA report says more than a third (36%) of U.S. universities plan to diversify their international markets in the coming year. Another 26% expect to expand online programs as an alternative pathway for international students.

"Over-reliance on one or two major source markets leaves universities vulnerable to sudden policy changes or economic shocks," Skikne said in an email.

Startz said some institutions may also step up international recruitment marketing. But this work is costly, so its scope is limited.

Skikne said institutions can help students navigate visa processing hurdles at low cost by offering hybrid enrollment options—starting online and then coming to campus—and by extending payment deadlines.

Last fall, 72% of institutions offered international students the option to defer to spring 2026, and 56% offered deferral to fall 2026, according to the IIE Fall 2025 Snapshot.

Even as institutions work to make international students feel welcome, students are also reading about the Trump administration's policies and political rhetoric, Skikne said. Additionally, they share stories in group chats about visa denials or feeling unwelcome in the United States.

For international students, enrolling in a U.S. university is a major financial decision, Spreitzer added.

"If there is uncertainty—whether your visa will remain valid throughout, or whether you can finish your studies before being asked to leave," Spreitzer said, "I think you might start considering other options."