Fewer students are choosing Trump’s United States

President Donald Trump’s attack on academic freedom in his country also has consequences for the admission of foreign students: they are less easily able to enter the country or are staying away themselves. Harvard, for example, was not allowed to admit foreign students, Trump decided this spring, although a judge ensured that it could do so again.

It is also more difficult to obtain a visa than it used to be. In May this year, the Trump administration instructed American embassies to stop making appointments with students who want to come to the US. Their social media accounts must since then be thoroughly checked for “hostility” towards the US. The rules are vague. Embassies must look for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.”, according to the New York Times.

No wonder fewer international students are going to the United States. The number of new international bachelor’s and master’s students has fallen by no less than 17 percent this year.

Not welcome

The institutions fear that visa issues are not the only reason. They speculate that students may no longer feel welcome or are staying away because of the political situation in the country.

The influx varies per institution: some report an increase, others notice little difference, but more than half see numbers declining. This is according to a report by the American Institute of International Education.

This negates the growth seen in previous years. For the first time since the coronavirus crisis, the total number of international students in the US has declined: it is 1 percent lower than last year.

Dutch students

This report does not provide figures for Dutch students, but older figures show that the total number of Dutch students in the United States was indeed already declining. In the 2022/2023 academic year, there were 2,751, and that number fell to 2,462 in two years.

HOP, Naomi Bergshoeff