Early data indicates fewer international students have come to the U.S. this fall. If that trend continues, it will be a big deal for colleges, the people who work at them, and for local economies.

International students contribute billions to the U.S. gross domestic product.

Foreign students are starting to look elsewhere.

New survey data shows a 13% dip in postgraduate enrollment for international students for the 2025-26 academic year.

Anxiety spreads as Trump administration revokes over 1,000 student visas. Many international learners fill jobs in science and technology.

Roughly half of international students are from China or India — and many are grad students or recent graduates permitted to work on a student visa for a time after graduation.

But they’re not quite back to pre-pandemic levels, and they’re coming from different parts of the world.

The Cato Institute found that the United States denied 35% of international student visas in 2022 — the highest denial percentage in decades.

International students are more likely to pay sticker price for a degree.

Chinese students spend years mapping out the path to U.S. colleges. The pandemic has disrupted all of that.