Student interest in higher education the USA declining

Weekly pageviews of bachelor and master’s programs in the USA declined by 50 per cent from 53,452 in the first week of January to 26,135 in the last week of April, Studyportals said, adding that interest has fallen to its lowest level since August 2020.

At its peak in popularity in 2023, the USA accounted for 12 per cent of all bachelor and master’s search volumes on Studyportals, but currently only commands around seven per cent, the latest research shows.

Commenting on which rival destinations might benefit, Studyportals said that nine per cent of all students who view programs in the USA also look at options in the UK, a ratio that has increased this year. There has been an increase in students additionally searching for higher education courses in Spain, Ireland, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Switzerland.

The market share of pageviews for the USA has declined in 2025. Source – Studyportals.

As well as the decline in international student interest, pageviews of US degrees by American students on Studyportals dropped by 20.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the same period of the previous year.

During the first three months of this year, searches of programs in Ireland by American students rose by 63 per cent, and Spain, Sweden and Switzerland all had increases between 25 and 30 per cent, according to the listings site.

Fanta Aw, Executive Director and CEO of NAFSA Association of International Educators , said, “International students and their families seek predictability and security when choosing which country to trust with their future. The U.S. government’s recent actions have naturally shaken their confidence in the United States. Government actions and policies have consequences. The decline in student interest carries with it serious ramifications for U.S. pre-eminence in research, innovation, and economic strength.

“This early trend data should serve as an urgent call for Congress to intervene before further long-term damage is done.”

After taking office in January, the Trump administration raised the prospect of new travel bans and stricter visa vetting in executive orders.

A wave of revocations of student visas and SEVIS records of international students was initially targeted at pro-Palestine campus protesters but expanded to students with minor offences or dismissed criminal charges, although some records were later reinstated. Students from India and China accounted for most of those affected, according to analysis by NAFSA.

And last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the USA would “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese students, targeting “those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields”.

Also in the last two weeks, the Secretary of Homeland Security revoked the right of Harvard University to recruit and host international students, although a temporary restraining order from the courts on this action remain in place at the time of writing.

And the State Department has paused new student visa interviews while it finalizes updated social media vetting guidelines for F, M and J students.

Meanwhile, there are concerns about the future of Optional Practical Training (OPT) post-study work after President Trump’s nominee for Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Joseph Edlow said he wanted to end the scheme.

Mingze Sang, Director of Chinese agency association BOSSA, told StudyTravel Magazine, “Chinese families’ confidence in studying in the U.S. has already been affected by trade tensions, the Harvard controversy, and warnings from the Chinese government. We’ve observed that some students are now applying to other countries alongside the U.S. as a backup plan.”

Ravi Lochan Singh, Managing Director of Global Reach agency in India, said that the recent measures and announcements have caused anxiety for Indian students, and that he expected Indian mobility to the USA to decline by around 30-40 per cent in 2025. In the 2023/24 academic year, India overtook China to be the largest source market of international students at higher education in the USA.

He said that Australia and the UK are expected to remain relatively stable, while destinations in the Europe and Dubai are likely to grow.

Edwin van Rest, CEO and Co-Founder of Studyportals, commented, “Every student who decides against America isn’t just lost tuition money – it’s lost talent. The person who could’ve started the next big company or made some major discovery might end up in London instead of Boston, all because of decisions being made right now. The fundamentals of US higher education remain strong. There’s still time to change the story. This is a wake-up call, not a closed chapter.”