Applying to U.S. colleges is a complex process, which is why many Chinese families hire consulting firms, such as ZOOMiN Academy.

Since 2015, the firm has been helping 14- to 18-year-olds studying in China’s international and bilingual schools navigate the U.S. college admissions process.

Company founder and Columbia University alum, Gu Huini, said business has been slower this year between her two offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

“I’ve laid off 30% of my staff in the Shanghai office,” she said.

According to the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, this fall there are nearly 250,000 students from China studying in the U.S., with the vast majority in post-secondary education. This is a 36% drop from the peak in 2017, when President Donald Trump was in his first term.

The following year, he started a trade war with China. As part of it, the Trump administration added scrutiny over visas on Chinese graduate students studying in fields such as robotics and aviation, and suspended the entry of Chinese students and researchers deemed to have links to the military in China.

The number of Chinese students in the U.S. declined further during the pandemic. India overtook China’s spot in the 2023-2024 academic year as the largest source country for international students.

Gu said it didn’t help that over the last six months in Trump’s second term, he targeted immigrants, international students, then specifically Chinese international students.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said the U.S. would “aggressively revoke” Chinese student visas. In August, the State Department pulled 6,000 student visas, mostly for overstays and encounters with the law, though it did not break down which country the students were from. Four Chinese students who had their visas revoked are suing the U.S. government.

“It’s an escalation and even I was very, very anxious after reading the news, let alone my clients,” Gu said.

But for Chinese students still wanting to study abroad, America remains the top destination, followed by the U.K. and Australia according to the 2025 China’s Study Abroad Development Report.

“It just goes back to the thousand-year-old tradition of Chinese families wanting to give their children the best education possible,” said Wan Xiaofeng, former associate dean of admissions at Amherst College turned private college consultant to high schools in the U.S. and China. “And most of the top 100 highly ranked universities in the world are U.S. institutions.”

Wan started his college consulting company last November, just as Trump was elected for a second term. But he is not too worried since his clients are relatively wealthier Chinese families who are determined for their child to study in the U.S.

He said once Chinese families decide on American colleges, it is a huge investment both in money and time commitment. The preparation typically begins three or four years before the child graduates. Families usually pay extra for things like international school, English language tests, SAT prep, and education consultants such as Wan.

“It's a very expensive journey,” he said.

Wan did not disclose how much he charges clients but said his fee is higher than average in China, which he said could be over $40,000.

So, it is hard for families to suddenly pivot based on the day’s news.

The major difference now is that Chinese students will apply to American colleges, plus universities elsewhere as back up.

“They are applying to colleges in the U.K., in Hong Kong, in Canada, just to have a plan B or plan C in case the U.S. falls out,” Wan said.

Hong Kong in particular was actively recruiting Harvard students affected by Trump’s attempt to ban that university from accepting international students.

Aside from geopolitics, there are other factors that might deter Chinese families from studying in the U.S., such as safety.

“China is a relatively safe country and there are no guns,” Wan said, adding that it is jarring for Chinese families to see the news of mass shootings in the U.S. and the recent killing of Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus.

“It's unfathomable for Chinese families to send their, in most cases, only child of the family to a country halfway across the globe where they can't even guarantee their child’s safety,” Wan said.

A major factor weighing on Chinese families is China’s sluggish economic growth. The property slump has made homeowners feel poorer and they are spending carefully.

“Chinese people are no longer optimistic about the return on investment in education,” Gu said, adding that the pessimism extends to higher education overall, not just U.S. colleges.

Chinese students may struggle to obtain work visas in the U.S. after graduation. And if they return to China, job prospects are not rosy either. Unemployment among 16- to 24-year-olds hit 18.9% in August. It is the highest jobless rate since December 2023 after Chinese officials adjusted the calculation method.

Students who return with an American degree may not have an immediate advantage in the Chinese job market as before now that Chinese education has improved, but it still gives job seekers a leg up, according to Phoebe You.

She works for a U.S. university’s outreach office in Shanghai, connecting their alumni with local Chinese businesses. Marketplace is not naming the school since she is not authorized to speak to the media.

“A lot of big domestic Chinese companies tell me they prefer working with graduates from top U.S. colleges because they produce quality employees,” You said.

However, with a sluggish domestic economy and high inflation in the U.S., an American degree is now a less affordable luxury. Chinese parents have become more discerning.

“They want to go to the top 20 universities in the U.S. Otherwise they would choose a college in the U.K. or Hong Kong (where tuition is cheaper),” Gu said.

That is a huge loss of revenue to American universities as Chinese students’ parents mostly pay full tuition

As part of a trade truce with China, Trump has said the U.S. will welcome 600,000 Chinese students. He later clarified that it would be spread over two years.

That is not enough to ease Chinese parents’ anxiety, according to Gu.

“The reason for the anxiety is uncertainty. The flip and flop upset Chinese parents the most,” he said.

Additional research by Charles Zhang