A new report released Monday shows that international student enrollment in the United States is down 17%, the most in years, following the implementation of President Donald Trump’s harsh anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric.
According to the Institute of International Education, the fall 2025 decline is the most international enrollment has fallen in a non-pandemic year since 2015. “The U.S. is no longer the central place that students aspire to come to,” Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, told NBC News.
The Trump-era brain drain is hurting the economy.
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According to NAFSA, international students contributed $42.9 billion to the economy and supported over 355,000 jobs during the most recent academic year. But this was a decline from the previous academic year and was the first such decline since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, contributions fell $1.1 billion and NAFSA estimates that this cost America almost 23,000 jobs.
Much of the decline is occurring because the Trump administration imposed severe restrictions on the number of student visas that would be made available. Trump, who has falsely blamed multiple problems in society on non-white immigrants, has integrated an anti-immigrant world view throughout the federal government.
Trump has also weaponized the country’s immigration enforcement agencies to act as ideological weapons. Immigration agents have kidnapped, abducted, detained and abused foreign national students based on disagreements with the views that they have expressed, suppressing speech. Many international students are unlikely to come to the U.S. if they are unable to participate in the free exchange of thoughts and ideas like they were able to do in the past.
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The data stands in stark contrast to Trump’s recent rhetoric on the issue. In an interview that aired last Monday on Fox News, Trump said it was “good” to have international students.
“You don’t want to cut half of the people, half of the students from all over the world that are coming into our country—destroy our entire university and college system—I don’t want to do that,” Trump said.
But his own policies are destroying the system, proving that his rhetoric is empty compared to his actions.
The brain drain under Trump not only hurts America, but it gives a significant boost to the country’s international adversaries. Countries like China are now able to attract international academics that once prioritized America.
The loss of this intellectual capital now extends beyond colleges and universities. The Trump administration’s decision to underfund scientific research has led to experts, scientists, doctors and others abandoning America for countries that are more willing to finance research and allow academic freedom.
The result is an America that cannot compete on the international stage with the advantages it once held. Under Trump, America is falling behind.
