US Colleges See Fewer Foreign Applicants As India Fuels Decline

Fewer international students are applying to US colleges this year, an early indication that the White House push to curtail foreign enrolment since President Donald Trump took office in January may be having an impact.

The number of international applicants through November 1 fell 9 per cent from a year earlier, according to a report released Thursday by the Common App, the most widely used college application platform in the country, with more than 1,100 university members.

The drop was fuelled by India, the largest source of international students to the US, which saw a 14 per cent decline. It was the first time applications from India fell since 2020. Applications from Africa and Asia dropped 18 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.

China, the second biggest source of foreign students in the US, saw a 1 per cent decline, stalling a surge in applications seen a year ago. Of the ten countries that historically provide the most international students to the US, total applications fell in all but the bottom two: Vietnam and Uzbekistan.

International applications had increased by this point in the cycle last year, but by March, they had fallen slightly overall. That capped off an application season whose final months were marked by a federal crackdown on student visa holders and pressure on universities to rely less on foreign students, who typically pay full tuition.

So far this year, the Trump administration has revoked thousands of visas, arrested students involved in pro-Palestinian activities, restricted visa interviews and imposed heightened application requirements. It has also targeted specific universities with large overseas student populations, launching federal investigations into their handling of international admissions, reports of antisemitism and compliance with visa regulations.

With its pressure campaign continuing, the White House most recently reached a settlement with Cornell University to restore about $250 million in federal funding. That accord required the Ithaca, New York-based school to invest $30 million over three years in agricultural research, as well as pay an additional $30 million directly to the US.

In July, Columbia University inked a deal with the administration that included a commitment to reducing its financial reliance on international enrollment and helping immigration authorities crack down on foreign students who violate their visa terms.

The Common App data is a snapshot of early trends in college admissions, and does not represent the entire application cycle, which will stretch through next March.

The data contains other signs that the White House's pressure on higher education institutions is reshaping application trends. The number of students reporting standardised test scores rose 11 per cent compared to last November. The Trump administration has pushed colleges to reinstate standardised testing requirements that many schools dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic.