LONDON, July 8. /TASS/. Dozens of US universities risk losing an estimated one billion dollars in collective tuition fees from new international students who are either unwilling or unable to study in the country due to actions by US President Donald Trump’s administration, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Tougher scrutiny of applicants, visa processing delays and immigration detentions at the border and on campuses are striking fear among both international students and university administrators, the paper wrote, citing the results of a study carried out by the US National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The study indicates that 162 educational institutions with fewer than 1,000 students are particularly at risk, given that more than 15% of their students are from abroad. About 75% of US universities anticipate a fall in international student numbers in 2025, with the majority expecting a decline of at least 10%, the newspaper said.
According to Shorelight Analytics, an educational consulting company, that would represent a decline of nearly 900 million dollars in direct revenues. Meanwhile, a possible 10% drop across all international students studying in the US would create a hit amounting to three billion dollars, the media outlet specified.
In late May, the US administration suspended new interviews for student visas. The Politico newspaper reported, citing sources, that this step was related to the US administration’s weighing of requiring all foreign students applying to study in the US to undergo social media vetting.
At the end of January, Trump pledged to deport foreign students and other non-US citizens who participated in the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests against the war in Gaza. Detentions and clashes of Palestine supporters with police and pro-Israel demonstrators disrupted US college campuses for several months. The protesters’ main demand to the US authorities was to halt financial support to Israel.