Highlights:
- International applications to US colleges dropped 9 per cent as of November 1.
- India saw a 14 per cent decline, its first drop in foreign applications since 2020.
- Stricter student visa rules under Trump cited as major factor.
- Cornell and Columbia reached federal settlements tied to foreign student oversight.
Standardized test submissions from U.S. students rose 11% as colleges face pressure to restore testing requirements.After multiple debates on the H-1B visa and the change in American policies, the effect of the Trump administration's decision has started reflecting. The colleges are seeing a noticeable decline in foreign student applications this year, signaling that the White House’s tougher stance on international enrollment under President Donald Trump may be taking effect, Bloomberg reported.
New data released Thursday (13) by the Common App, the nation’s largest undergraduate application portal with more than 1,100 participating universities, shows that international applications submitted by November 1 fell by 9 per cent compared with the same period last year.
India, the largest source of foreign students in the US, recorded a 14 per cent drop, considering this as its first decline since 2020. Applications from Africa fell 18 per cent, and Asia saw a 9 per cent decrease.
China, the second-biggest contributor of international students, saw a slight 1 per cent decline, breaking last year’s upward trend. Among the top 10 sending countries, applications dropped across the board except for Vietnam and Uzbekistan.
While applications from overseas increased at this stage last year before slipping by spring, the current downturn appears more widespread. The decline comes at a time when federal authorities are tightening oversight of student visas and urging colleges to reduce reliance on international students, who often pay full tuition.
This shift is happening alongside a series of crackdowns. The Trump administration has revoked thousands of visas, arrested students involved in pro-Palestinian protests, imposed stricter application requirements, limited visa interview slots, and opened investigations into campuses with high foreign student concentrations.
Cornell University recently settled with the federal government, restoring around $250 million in funding in exchange for committing $30 million to agricultural research and paying an additional $30 million to the US Treasury. Columbia University reached a separate deal focused on scaling back financial dependence on international students and supporting immigration enforcement against visa violators.
The Common App emphasized that these numbers represent early-cycle trends, as most applications will be submitted through March. It also noted a change in domestic patterns: the number of U.S. students submitting standardized test scores rose 11 per cent from last November. The Trump administration has been pressing colleges to reinstate testing requirements that were widely dropped during the pandemic.
