Applications From International Students Down 10%

International student applications to American colleges dropped by 10 percent in the most recent application cycle—a decrease of roughly 16,000 students—according to data Common App released Thursday.

The figures show a major break from the upward trajectory of international applications over the past 10 years and reflect the impact of the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies. The landscape for international students in the United States has changed dramatically since the administration began revoking student visas, approving fewer new applications and limited the time international students can stay in the country. Department of Homeland Security data from the 2025–26 academic year showed an average 13 percent decrease in international student enrollment, and new projections say 112,000 fewer international students could be on U.S. campuses this fall.

The data represents applications to Common App’s 1,146 member institutions, which includes fewer than half of all public and private four-year colleges in the country.

Asia and Africa, which typically have the largest numbers of international student applications, saw the largest decreases—11 percent fewer applications from students in Asia and 17 percent fewer from students in Africa.

Rodney Hughes, a senior data scientist at Common App, said the decrease in international applicants is a significant departure from the way international student applications had been trending. International student applications had grown from about 90,000 to almost 165,000 a year between the 2016–17 and the 2024–25 application cycles. For the most recent cycle, the number of applicants dropped to 148,000.

“We have thought about what’s been going on over the past season and it’s interesting to differentiate the applicants, which is what we see here, from enrollments and just the thought process of applying,” Hughes said. “If you think, ‘OK, it might be hard for me to get a visa,’ that may make students more hesitant to apply.”

Despite the decrease in international students, Common App reported 1.5 million applicants in the 2025–26 application cycle—a year-over-year increase of about 2 percent. On average, each student applied to seven colleges, resulting in more than 10 million applications sent through Common App alone.

The modest increase in applicants comes as colleges around the country scramble to recruit and enroll a shrinking population of high school graduates.

Hughes said some domestic groups are growing faster than others. For example, the number of applicants who are low-income, Black or from small towns and rural areas is growing, even as the number of applicants from majority groups remains flat.

Common App doesn’t collect income information from applicants. Instead, it uses proxies to determine what percentage of students likely come from low-income backgrounds.

Since last year’s application cycle, 6 percent more students qualified for a fee waiver. And applications from students living in ZIP codes below the national median income level increased 8 percent, compared to a 2 percent increase in other applicants.

Meanwhile, Black applicants, who represent the third-largest racial group after white and Latinx applicants, are growing fastest. In 2025–26, the data shows an 8 percent increase in Black applicants, compared to a 2 percent increase in white applicants and a 3 percent increase in Latinx applicants.

The data also shows shifts in students’ geographies. Although nearly 90 percent of all applicants are from metropolitan areas, more than 25,000 students from small towns applied—a 9 percent increase. Meanwhile, about 17,000 students from rural areas applied, an increase of 8 percent.