Trump impact? US student visa arrivals fall to 4-year low, 45% drop from India — Tharoor says it's ‘fine’ because...
Total student arrivals in the US were reportedly down nearly 12% for the year through August. The decline was the sharpest among students from Asia.
Student arrivals to the US reportedly hit a four-year low in August, riding on US President Donald Trump's “America First” immigration policies.
"Visitors to the US arriving on student visas dropped 19 percent in August year-on-year to just over 3,13,000 – a fifth consecutive month of declines," Bloomberg reported while citing data from the International Trade Administration that tracks arrivals to the country.
That’s the lowest number of students entering the US for August — a peak month for new students to arrive — since 2021 amid the Covid pandemic.
Total student arrivals were reportedly down nearly 12% for the year through August.
The decline was the sharpest among students from Asia, which accounts for the majority of US student visas, as Trump’s “America First” policies create immigration hurdles.
Big decline in Asian arrivals
According to Bloomberg, Asia posted the biggest decline in the total shortfall of student arrivals, falling 24% to about 191,000.
This included a 45 percent drop from India and a 12 percent decline from China. Thirteen of the biggest source markets in Asia, from Japan to Vietnam, experienced declines in student arrivals in August and for the year.
Africa saw the steepest percentage fall, down 33 percent, though from a smaller base. Western Europe showed the smallest drop, less than 1 percent.
Why such a decline in student arrivals in US?
This summer, the Trump administration temporarily paused student visa interviews (in late May), added social media reviews to vetting, and pushed through new restrictions on H-1B visas for foreign workers—including a $100,000 application fee.
The president signed a proclamation Friday overhauling the program, including a $100,000 fee for applications. Notably, Indian and Chinese nationals dominate H-1B programme.
Shashi Tharoor reacts: 'Not a big blow...'
In an interview with the Wire, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor noted the "decline in student applications for the current academic year" in the US. He was speaking about the Trump administration's desire to restrict student visas to just four years.
Tharoor said that this rule, in addition to the H-1B rule, "is not much of a problem" as "if the H-1B itself is no longer accessible to most of them, they would have to come back...or move to other countries."
"You will be certain that when the final numbers come in, Indian students in America in the current academic year, that is, September 2025 to June 2026, will be significantly lower than the cohort that went to America in September 2024...That will be lower already," Tharoor said.
Tharoor added that once the new H-1B visa rules are implemented, "it'll [student application] drop even further."
He said, "America is depriving itself of Indian student talent, but that's fine because others are welcoming them."
Tharoor said he doesn't believe that this "is such a big blow to the Indian student community because "those who want to go abroad have other options."
"It's very, very interesting the way in which Europe is rolling out the red carpet for Indian students in Germany and France, as well as other countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand and even Ireland is attracting Indian students," Tharoor said.