Together India and China contribute to more than 50 per cent of the total international students in the US.
Amid tightening visa restrictions, new international student enrolments in the US have taken a noticeable hit. According to the Open Doors 2025 Report published annually by the US-based Institute of International Education (IIE), 277,118 students began their studies at U.S. colleges and universities in Fall 2024 — a 7.2 per cent drop from the 298,705 recorded the previous year.
India, however, continued to be the largest exporter of international students for the second consecutive year in 2024-25.
According to the report, a total of 363,019 Indian students were studying in the US in academic year 2024–25, a 10 per cent jump from the previous year’s 331,602. The number of students from China, on the other hand, saw a 4 per cent decline in from 277,398 to 265,919 .
Together India and China contribute to more than 50 per cent of the total international students in the US.
The growth in students from was fuelled by a 11.3 per cent increase in undergraduate students to 40,135 and a 47.3 per cent increase in students enrolled in Optional Practical Training courses. The number of graduate students, however, went down by 9.5 per cent to 177,892 enrolments.
Overall, US colleges and universities hosted 1.2 million international students in the 2024/2025 academic year, a 5 per cent overall increase from the previous year.
Undergraduate enrolments
Split across academic levels, new undergraduate enrolments rose by 5 per cent to 98,963, whereas new graduate numbers fell 15 per cent to 150,536. Non-degree enrolments went down by 3.6 per cent to 27,619 new students.
Jayprakash Gandhi, a career consultant, suggests that the layoffs in major sectors like technology and banking have contributed to a decline in US’s appeal for foreign education. “Moreover the trade wars and the government planning to put a 15 per cent cap on admissions
In addition, Gandhi mentions that earlier students had the opportunity to stay back. “Now it’s harder for students to stay back and find employment so they are looking at other prospective countries like Ireland, Germany Sweden and Finland.”
In terms of the increase in Indian student numbers, Gandhi suggests that though there is an increase in the total number of Indian students, given all the challenges with visas, this number will definitely go down over the coming years.
Published on November 17, 2025