International students face uncertain future in US as enrollment declines – The Daily Texan

Before his first year of college in the U.S. began, a UT international student scrolled through months of WhatsApp messages and camera roll photos, deleting anything U.S. officials might flag.

To the journalism student, who chose to remain anonymous due to concerns over jeopardizing his visa status, deleting photos and conversations wasn’t required, but it wasn’t optional either — not since he said his friend, already studying in the U.S., was detained and sent back home after a photo of her using legally prescribed marijuana raised suspicions.

“(The current environment facing international students) directly influenced the way I think about moving freely, even though I have a visa,” he said. “It makes you really think about every step you take.”

Shifting policies, along with the State Department’s revocation of approximately 8,000 student visas within the first year of Trump’s presidency, have created uncertainty for some international students at the University. Nationwide, there has been a significant drop in the number of international students studying in the U.S. 

Projections show that international enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities will drop by 9.5% this fall from the previous school year, or by as many as 111,000 students, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators and JB International’s August report. 

This follows an already steep decline last fall, when new international student enrollment fell 17% nationally. This contributed to a 7% decline in total international enrollment — excluding students on optional practical training — according to NAFSA’s 2025 report. 

This pattern is playing out at some of Texas’ largest public universities. International enrollment at the University of North Texas fell from 7,403 students in fall 2024 to 4,732 in fall 2025 — a drop of roughly 36%. New international student enrollment fell by more than half over the same period.

 At the University of Texas at Arlington, total international enrollment dropped from 6,204 to 5,148 between fall 2024 and fall 2025, while new-student enrollment fell by about one-third. 

Texas A&M’s international enrollment slipped from 6,099 to 5,581 over the same stretch. 

Despite the statewide trend, UT-Austin’s international student count remained steady, rising from 5,227 to 5,261 during the same period. A University spokesperson wrote in an email that the University and Texas Global’s operations regarding international students have stayed the same and that the University is unaware of how its procedures differ from other schools.

Rachel Banks, NAFSA’s senior director for public policy and legislative strategy, said the national decline results from a combination of policy actions rather than a single cause.

A December 2025 executive order barred travel from 39 countries with no exemptions for student or exchange visitors. Banks said this was a departure from the first Trump administration, which had carved out exceptions for students in countries under travel restrictions, including Iran and Nigeria.

Another federal policy change was supposed to take effect on Sept. 15 and would eliminate “duration of status,” the framework that allowed international students to keep legal status as long as they were making progress toward a degree. Under the new rule, students will be admitted for a fixed period, usually four years, and must petition the government for an extension if they require more time. However, a federal judge temporarily blocked the new rule on Sept. 14.

“(The new rule) injects a tremendous amount of uncertainty for an international student who’s deciding … ‘do I want to put the effort in and the investment?’” she said. “‘Maybe I’ll think about going to the U.K. or to Canada or to Australia, where at least there’s a bit more certainty with respect to (finishing) my program.’”

After graduating, international students with an F-1 visa are eligible to remain in the U.S. for up to a year if they are approved for Optional Practical Training, which allows them to work in a field relevant to their degree. However, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s proposed rule to impose additional fees to students who wish to undergo this training is awaiting potential finalization by the Federal Register. 

In addition to OPT, Curricular Practical Training is being affected by recent policy changes. This program, which allowed international students to get internships and work opportunities before graduating college in the U.S., was narrowed to only allow this training when it “is an integral part of an established curriculum,” according to an Aug. 24 memo from the DHS. 

An international student, who wished to remain anonymous to protect her visa status, said she had originally planned to stay in the U.S. after graduating, but this change to CPT and the hostile environment towards international students have caused her to decide to leave. As of April 2025, 176 international students across the UT system have had their immigration status changed or their visa revoked.

“I didn’t want me publicly speaking out to be a problem, and my visa can be very easily taken away,” the source said. “People have gotten their visas taken away at other universities and at UT as well — more for extreme demonstrations, but even for interviews like this, I could have easily jeopardized my status.” 

Additionally, she said she stopped posting her political opinions publicly because she worries they could also affect her status, and she said she canceled her travel plans to ensure she was complying with federal regulations. 

While international undergraduate students are affected by these shifts in attitude towards international students, graduate students are being disproportionately affected. According to NAFSA, international applications to U.S. doctoral programs fell 21% this year, contributing to a 15% drop in overall doctoral admissions. Banks said the Trump administration’s imposed limits to federal research funding are partially linked to these drops.

“Obviously (U.S. universities) attract U.S. talent, but they’re also thinking (of) global talent,” Banks said. “They want the best minds and best talent to be in those labs, helping to innovate (and) helping to move the needle for new innovations and new research. … If the research enterprise is being attacked, then there’s less there for the universities to offer.” 

The loss of international students could also reach domestic students, who benefit from the perspectives international students bring to the classroom, said Jennifer Keys Adair, a professor of curriculum and instruction. 

“Students learn from their peers as much as they do (from) their professors sometimes,” Adair said. “Especially at the graduate level, they’re not able to expand their theories, their methodological tools (and) their literature when everybody is coming from the same education system in the same country. It’s not expansive enough.”

A Sept. 9 report from the American Council on Education shows that 73% of university presidents sampled who enroll international students have experienced a loss in revenue due to the decline. Richard Murphy, an associate professor of economics, said UT’s limit on out-of-state enrollment could help cushion UT-Austin because domestic students from outside Texas could replace some international students. However, he said smaller or less nationally recognized universities may not have the same protection. 

For international students, however, the consequences of that uncertainty extend beyond enrollment numbers and university budgets.

“It really feels bad to live in a country and (to try) to stay in a country that doesn’t want you,” one student said. “I have a really hard time with that.”