The number of international college students enrolling in their American schools for the first time decreased by 17 percent this fall, according to data published on Monday.
The Trump administration has explicitly sought to curb the enrollment of college students from abroad, and its broader quest to remake the American higher education system has unnerved prospective pupils and led universities to limit graduate school admissions.
In a report on Monday, the Institute of International Education said that the overall number of international students on American campuses — including students who started in prior years — was nearly steady, declining about 1 percent from the last academic year. Although information about international students can be murky and caveat-laden, the slight change roughly aligns with separate Department of Homeland Security data about students on visas.
But the downturn in new enrollments suggests that the United States could see steeper decreases in the coming years, as current students finish their studies or leave their campuses for other reasons.
The data released on Monday, part of a project backed by federal money, was somewhat narrow, stitching together statistics from less than a quarter of the nation’s degree-granting colleges and universities. But it included schools that often account for large international student counts, and is seen by officials in higher education as an important snapshot of enrollment.
The institute said that 57 percent of the approximately 825 institutions that provided data reported decreases in new enrollments from abroad. Amid months of Trump administration wrangling over immigration policy, nearly all of those schools said that concerns about obtaining student visas contributed to falling enrollments, and more than two-thirds pointed to travel restrictions.
The survey found a rise in new undergraduate students, reflecting a rebound from pandemic-era declines, but a 12 percent decrease among new graduate students. (The majority of international students in the U.S. are graduate students.)
Although the data from this fall was stark, it was also an extension of a trend from last year.
In the fall of 2024, according to the report, American schools reported a 7 percent decline in new international enrollments. The nation’s 1.2 million international students are still a key population for universities, accounting for roughly 6 percent of total enrollments. India and China, the world’s two most populous countries, together sent nearly 629,000 students to the United States.
International students can be essential income sources for American colleges and universities, and higher education officials have been anxious for months about how President Trump’s immigration policies might affect that revenue stream. The report on Monday suggested that some of the most dire forecasts for this fall, like one that floated the possibility of a 40 percent decline in new enrollments, had been overwrought.
The Trump administration has also sent mixed signals about its intentions for international students.
A sputtering Trump administration proposal for an agreement between the government and American schools floated a 15 percent cap on international students as recently as last month. And since Mr. Trump took office, the government has canceled visas for some students, delayed screening interviews and imposed travel restrictions.
In May and June, the government tried to block Harvard University from enrolling any international students. A federal judge blocked those efforts.
But in an interview this month with the Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Mr. Trump stood by a plan to allow up to 600,000 Chinese citizens to obtain student visas. Many students, he noted, pay significant tuition costs.
“It’s not that I want them, but I view it as a business,” Mr. Trump said. Draconian cuts to international students, Mr. Trump warned, could “destroy our entire university and college system.”
The higher education industry is also clashing with Mr. Trump over a recently announced $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas, which colleges and universities rely on to fill various jobs.
In court filings last month, academic officials detailed how the visa fee could derail hiring, unleashing consequences for research and teaching.
Stephanie Saul contributed reporting.
Alan Blinder is a national correspondent for The Times, covering education.
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