Fewer students choose the United States

Who still wants to study in Donald Trump’s United States? American higher education is seeing the influx of international students fall by 17 percent.

President Donald Trump’s attack on academic freedom in his country is also affecting the arrival of foreign students: they find it harder to enter the country or stay away of their own accord.

Harvard, for example, was not allowed to admit any foreign students, Trump decided this spring, although a judge later ensured that it was possible again. Getting a visa is also more difficult than it used to be: the Americans go through your social media looking for undesirable statements.

No wonder that fewer international students are going to the United States. The number of new international bachelor’s and master’s students has fallen this year by no less than 17 percent.

Not welcome

Institutions fear that it is not only due to visa problems. Students may no longer feel welcome or stay away because of the political situation in the country, they speculate.

The intake differs per institution: some report an increase, others notice little change, but more than half see numbers decline. This is shown in a report by the American Institute for International Education.

The growth of previous years has been undone. For the first time since the coronavirus crisis, the total number of international students in the US has decreased: it is 1 percent lower than last year.

Dutch students

This report does not provide figures on Dutch students, but older data show that the total number of Dutch students in the United States had indeed already been falling. In the 2022/2023 academic year there were 2,751 and that number fell in two years to 2,462.