Amid Tighter US Visa Scrutiny, International Student Applications Fall 10%; Steepest Decline on Record: Report

Washington: Amid continued differences over immigration policies in the United States, a report by US media observed that fewer new students from overseas chose to attend American colleges in 2025, with new data highlighting that enrollment may drop further in the year ahead.

Referring to the report released on Thursday by the Common App, US media report noted that while application volume for undergraduate admission in the upcoming 2026-27 academic year rose overall, the number of international applicants through March 1 fell 10%-- the steepest decline on record.

According to a Fall 2025 Snapshot from the US Department of State and the Institute of International Education (IIE), the fall 2025 semester, the tally of new international students studying in the US sank 17% compared with the previous year. It further reported that the IIE's Spring 2026 Snapshot estimated another drop in overall international enrollment for the upcoming fall.

As per US media report, there was a pronounced decrease in the number of applicants from Asia and Africa, according to the Common App data. With fewer students outside the US creating accounts on the college application platform, the pipeline for future international enrollment is likely to shrink further, according to Common App researchers.

While the impact is not likely to be felt across America's leading Ivy league colleges due to the international applicant pool being deep, the real impact, may be felt a few tiers down.

As per US media report, Jamie Beaton, co-founder and CEO of Crimson Education, a college consulting firm underlined that while private colleges are reliant on international students, if the applications start to diversify to UK, Australia or Singapore, the impact on the revenue is likely to be felt.

"Mid-ranked private colleges and regional public flagships are quite reliant on full-pay international students, and when those applicants start to diversify to the U.K., Australia or Singapore, these schools can't backfill the revenue since the domestic pipeline is shrinking with the demographic cliff, and they can't raise prices on a market already questioning their ROI," he said.

As per the report by US media, the change in the student visa policy could also come at a significant economic cost.

Citing an analysis by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, it mentioned that the US has been the top host of international students, mostly from India and China, but this year's enrollment decline is projected to cost local economies a collective $3.4 billion. The report also found that the loss of students could also put as many as 40,000 US jobs to risk.

The report comes amid a row of developments regarding visa applications, as the US Vice President JD Vance backed the support to the proposed new six-figure fee for H-1B visas. A fresh move that would apply to most new applicants, and stands at $103,265 fee-- replacing an earlier plan to charge $100,000 for the visa that was struck down by the courts. 

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