As Trump Tightens Visa Rules, Foreign Students Turn Away From US Colleges
- Edited by: Sagar Kar
- Updated Aug 21, 2026, 04:50 IST
Applications from international students to US colleges fell roughly 10% this year, the sharpest decline in at least a decade, as the Trump administration tightened visa rules for foreign students.
Harvard University.
International interest in American colleges just took its biggest hit in at least a decade. Applications from foreign students dropped roughly 10% this fall. This is according to data released Thursday by Common App, the country’s most widely used college application platform, and reported by Bloomberg.
That percentage translates to almost 16,000 fewer foreign students applying to US colleges compared to 2025. The timing lines up closely with the Trump administration’s push to restrict overseas students from entering the country, including a series of changes to visa rules over the past year.
This isn’t a one time blip either. It’s the strongest signal yet that American universities should brace for further enrollment declines this fall.
Where the drop is coming from
The numbers break down unevenly by region. Applications from Asia and Africa fell by double digits. Even Europe, which had seen steady application growth for years, saw a 4% decline this cycle, marking a clear break from that trend.
Domestic applications moved in the opposite direction, climbing 4% overall. Much of that growth came from a 9% jump in applicants from the South and Southwest regions of the US.
A sharp acceleration from last year
Context matters here. During the 2024-25 application cycle, which wrapped up shortly after the Trump administration first began cracking down on student visa holders, foreign applications dropped by just 1% compared to the year before. This year’s 10% drop shows just how much that decline has accelerated.
New visa rules could make things worse
Recent policy changes are likely to push the numbers down even further. The administration has altered decades old rules that previously gave visa holders more flexibility, including limiting their ability to change majors, switch schools, or remain in the US after graduation.
These changes are adding fresh financial strain to American colleges, many of which were already struggling with a shrinking pool of university age students and growing public skepticism about whether a college degree is worth the cost.
Elite schools weathering the storm better than most
Not every college is feeling this equally. The most selective universities, those accepting fewer than a quarter of applicants, saw international applications fall by just 1%. Meanwhile, schools that accept more than half of their applicants took a much harder hit, with international applications dropping by roughly 20%.
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Sagar is a journalist with an interest primarily in geopolitics and American domestic politics. Before joining Times Now, he wrote for Republic and Sw… View More
Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/latest-news
