The number of students arriving from Asia to the United States in August fell by nearly 24 per cent this year compared with last year, according to recently released US government data. This marks the lowest August numbers on record outside the Covid-19 pandemic.
The data is based on arrival records of international students published by the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) and includes both new students and existing students returning to the US. August arrival data is typically a reliable indicator of enrolment in US schools, as students usually arrive that month in time for the first semester or term of the academic year.
The decline coincides with a series of measures adopted by US President Donald Trump’s second administration. Moves have included delays in visa processing, travel bans or restrictions on several Asian countries, threats to deport foreigners for expressing certain speech and tighter vetting of visa applicants.
Many international students who typically leave the US over school breaks have also opted to stay put this year, fearing that they would not be allowed in even if they have a valid visa.
Asia – which the ITA defines separately from the Middle East, unlike some other US agencies – accounted for more than 191,000 student visa arrivals this August. That’s 60 per cent.
China and India remained the two largest sources of international students, with over 86,000 and over 41,000 arrivals, respectively. Both saw sharp declines from August last year – down 12.4 per cent for mainland China and 44.5 per cent for India.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, saw a 7.7 per cent decrease in arrivals.
Overall, the number of students entering the US fell by 19.1 per cent compared to August 2024, dropping from about 387,000 to 313,000.
Other regions, including Africa, South America and the Middle East, also recorded double-digit percentage declines, while western Europe saw only a slight drop of 0.7 per cent. Africa posted the steepest fall of all the regions, with arrivals down by nearly a third.
The US hosts over a million international students in its universities and colleges.
Washington has sent mixed signals to international students, particularly those from China, in recent months. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that his department would “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students, Trump announced in August that he would allow 600,000 Chinese students to study in the US – more than double the current figures.
Education advocates warn that steep declines in foreign student numbers could hurt the US economy and undermine its competitiveness in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
