Since plunging during the COVID-19 pandemic, international student enrollment in the U.S. has been rebounding – a relief to American universities that count on their tuition payments. Two months into the new Trump administration, educators fear that could soon change.
Unnerved by efforts to deport students over political views, students from other countries already in the U.S. have felt new pressure to watch what they say.
A Ph.D. student at the University of Rochester from South Asia said it feels too risky to speak about LGBTQ+ causes she once openly championed or even be seen near a political demonstration. With reports of travel bans circulating, she likely won’t fly home for the summer out of fear she would not be allowed back into the U.S.
“You´re here for an education so you´ve got to keep moving forward on that end,” said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by authorities. “But also it´s very hard to, say, `OK, I´m at work. I´ve got to zone out. I can´t be thinking about the news.´”
Educators worry it´s a balancing act that will turn off foreign students. As the U.S. government takes a harder line on immigration, cuts federal research funding and begins policing campus activism, students are left to wonder if they´ll be able to get visas, travel freely, pursue research or even express an opinion.
“It has a chilling effect,” said Clay Harmon, executive director of AIRC, a membership organization focused on recruiting and enrolling international students. “Even if there´s no direct consequence or direct limitation right now, all of this cumulatively produces an impression that the U.S. is not welcoming, it´s not open or that you may be in some kind of danger or jeopardy if you do come to the U.S.”
During a recent trip to India, the biggest sender of students to the U.S., the consensus among recruiting agencies was that far fewer of that country´s students are interested in American colleges than in recent years, Harmon said.
Some students are waiting to see how policy changes will play out, while others already have deferred admission offers for fall 2025, he said. Student social networks are active, and news about immigration-related developments in America – like a Republican proposal to prevent Chinese students from studying in the U.S. – spreads quickly.
Students in Canada, China, India and elsewhere have been seeking answers and advice on Reddit and other social media sites, wondering whether to move forward with U.S. plans, or choose a college in the United Kingdom, Germany or elsewhere in Europe.
International students are coveted as an antidote to declining domestic enrollment and source of full-price tuition payments. In the 2023-2024 academic year, 1.1 million international students at U.S. colleges and universities contributed an all-time high $43.8 billion to the nation´s economy and supported more than 378,000 jobs, according to data released by NAFSA, an agency that promotes international education.
International graduate students also play a large role in advancing research, said Fanta Aw, who heads NAFSA.
Aw said universities must work to remind prospective students that detentions like those of a pro-Palestinian activist Columbia University and, more recently, a scholar at Georgetown University, still are not the norm, despite the attention they receive.