Lowest US student visa arrivals led by 45% less Indians amid $7 bn revenue loss prediction
As the Donald Trump administration tightens its rules and policies on visas and immigration, student visa arrivals have plunged to the most grim-looking figures in four years.
The group NAFSA: Association of International Educators had long predicted that these foreboding developments would result in a projected loss of about $7 billion in revenue for American universities, with international students particularly bringing in $44 billion to the US economy.
It had also estimated that foreign arrivals on student visas in the country had helped almost 400,000 jobs in 2023-24. However, with the biggest decline in foreign student arrivals marked in August 2025 amid an already months-long lull, things are looking darker than ever.
Lowest US student visa arrivals recorded
According to the data from the International Trade Administration, students arrivals to America fell 19% last month year-on-year, accounting for just over 313,000. In what now marks a fifth month of alarmingly low numbers in a row.
The August is particularly led by the biggest dips from Asia, slipping 24% and amounting to 191,000. With India and China regularly deemed the most crucial sources for foreign talent in the US, student arrivals from the former fell 45% and from the latter dipped 12%. Other Asia markets, ranging from Japan to Vietnam, witnessed a similar sharp decline in international student arrivals.
Meanwhile, African scholars decreased 33%. On the contrary, those from Western European countries experiences a significantly smaller fall, which was recorded just under 1%.
The news of sharp decline in foreign student visitors in the US comes while the US already hitting it out against international workers, who are in the country thanks to nonimmigrant H-1B visa category, by issuing a massive overhaul of the program through the introduction of a $100,000 application fee.
September to be even worse for US student visa arrivals
August is deemed an important for student arrivals ahead of the new fall semesters’ commencement in US universities. However, this August witnessed the lowest turnout since 2021, COVID-19 peak. According to deputy director of federal policy of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, Zuzana Cepla Wootson, September is expected to bring out further setbacks for the American education sector.
Wootson has since quoted estimates of new international student enrollment sinking as farther as 40% this fall, with September witnessing even more shocking numbers. Amid the plunge in students visa holders, the immigration expert suggested that if these months-long trends continue as they are, the impact will be equally devastating for both international and American students, along with the US economy being pushed through the shredder.
“Fewer international students mean fewer contributions to America’s leadership in science and technology — and, ultimately, a less competitive United States in the long run,” Wootson remarked.