Foreign student enrollment at US universities decreased this fall, as reported by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The big drop was also seen in the enrollment numbers for the master’s programs.
Graduate international student enrollment declined 5.9 percent after years of steady growth (-10,000). At the undergraduate level, there was an increase in international enrollment (+3.2%, +5,000) but at less than half the rate than last fall (+8.4%).
The decline seems to be less than expected. A study conducted by the Association of Foreign Educators, NAFSA, and JB International late last years, predicted a 17% decline in new foreign student enrollment for the Fall 2025 session. Earlier reports also suggested new student enrollment in U.S. colleges to decrease by nearly 50% in Fall 2025.
According to the Open Doors 2025 Report on International Educational Exchange, the leading annual benchmark for international educational exchange in the United States, nearly 1.2 million international students studied at US universities in the academic year 2024-25, a 5% increase from the previous academic year. Of the total U.S. higher education population, international students accounted for 6%.
However, the number of new international students enrolling at a U.S. college or university for the first time decreased by 7% to 277,118 in 2024–2025.
Final Fall Enrollment Numbers
The Final Fall Enrollment Trends 2025 Report of National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that in fall 2025, there were over 19.4 million postsecondary enrollments — 16.2 million undergraduate and 3.2 million graduate students.
Compared to 19.2 million students last fall, this is a 1.0 percent increase in total postsecondary enrollment, driven by undergraduate gains (+1.2%) while graduate enrollment remained stable (-0.3%).
This decline was largely due to a 6% drop in graduate student programs, which saw nearly 10,000 fewer students after a significant increase of over 50% from 2020 to 2024.
The decrease in new international students began in the academic year 2024–2025 and became more noticeable in the fall of 2025, according to both reports.
The decrease in international students coming to the US is likely due to the Trump administration’s immigration actions, which include halting visa interviews, cancellation of visas, and threats of ending the Optional Practical Training program.
Graduate Level – Overall
At the graduate level, private nonprofit 4-year institutions saw an enrollment decline of 0.9 percent (-12,000). However, the stable graduate enrollment at public 4-year institutions (+0.1%, +1,000) and the slight increase at private for-profit 4-year institutions (+0.7%, +2,000) led to little change in national graduate enrollment this fall.
Yet after years of growth, enrollment in master’s programs declined this fall (-1.2%, -24,000), primarily at private nonprofit 4-year institutions (-2.3%, -20,000).
Graduate international student enrollment declined 5.9 percent after years of steady growth (-10,000). At the undergraduate level, there was an increase in international enrollment (+3.2%, +5,000) but at less than half the rate than last fall (+8.4%).
The State Department resumed student visa applications in June last year after a temporary halt, requiring applicants to make their social media accounts public, a mandate that was also applied to other visa applicants before Christmas.