International student enrollment rates at American colleges and universities fell sharply this year, driven by visa application issues as prospective students are caught up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

New international student enrollment in U.S. institutions declined by 17% in fall 2025, the largest nonpandemic decline in the last 11 years, according to new data released Monday by the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit that works to encourage foreign study. This figure, from a preliminary report covering a portion of the institutions, comes on the heels of a 7% drop in new international enrollees in the 2024-25 academic year.

More than half of the 825 U.S. higher education institutions surveyed in the fall 2025 snapshot reported a decrease in new i

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