SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — As classes ramp up at most American colleges and universities this fall, fewer first-time international students are arriving to begin their schoolwork in the U.S., according to Bloomberg News.
The news agency is reporting a 19 percent drop in first-year enrollment at just over 313,000 foreign students, the lowest number since 2021, although it could be down by as much as 40 percent later this month when final numbers are reported by schools.
The downturn is most noticeable among students from Asia, which gets the bulk of student visas. It is seeing the biggest decline, falling 24 percent, according to Bloomberg.
One University of California-San Diego freshman from South America, who asked to remain anonymous, told Border Report she wanted to come to the United States because there are more educational opportunities in the U.S. than back home, especially for women.
She said getting her student visa was relatively easy to get and was grateful her parents could afford to pay the international-student tuition of roughly $52,000 a year at the school.
Gaurav Khanna, associate professor of economics at UCSD’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, says the drop in foreign students means billions of dollars in lost revenue for schools, which hurts American students in various ways.
“When U.S. universities have a fall in revenue from international students, they need to raise tuition fees for U.S. students,” Khanna said.
He also said schools will be forced to cut expenditures on instruction and research.
“Again, hurting local students.”
President Trump has made it more difficult for foreign students to get student visas per his “America First” policy, although last month he promised 600,000 visas for Chinese students.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Zuzana Cepla Wootson, deputy director of federal policy of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, said Trump’s restrictions on foreign student visas will have wide implications.
“If the trends continue, the impact will be significant not only for campuses and their students — both international and American — but for the economy overall,” Cepla Wootson said. “Fewer international students mean fewer contributions to America’s leadership in science and technology, and ultimately a less competitive United States in the long run.”
Professor Khanna agreed, saying this will hurt U.S. industry because of a drop in science, technology, engineering and mathematics talent coming to the U.S.
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