Significant Drop In Indian Students For US Colleges Enrollment

US colleges are seeing a significant drop in Indian student enrollment for 2025, according to the State Department-funded organisation’s report.

Graduate enrollment from India fell ten per cent in 2024-25, while overall international student numbers are projected to decline 17 per cent in fall 2025. 

Over 61 per cent of US institutions reported reduced Indian enrollment, with 96 per cent citing visa application concerns as the main cause, followed by travel restrictions.

 

Despite this,



India remained the largest source of international students in 2024-25, accounting for nearly half of all graduate students and one-third of total enrollment, marking an overall 10 per cent rise, even as graduate programs alone registered a decline.

The report links the downturn to tightened Trump-era scrutiny of international students, including more than 170 investigations into H-1B visa misuse, a proposed one-hundred-thousand-dollar H-1B application fee, and legislative efforts by conservative lawmakers to restrict or even eliminate the H-1B program.