As a new academic year gets underway at US colleges and universities, administrators, economists, and business leaders are watching a troubling trend: fewer international students are showing up on campus, and even fewer say they plan to apply in the future.
A new report from Common App, the platform used to apply to more than 1,100 US colleges and universities, found that international applications for incoming first-year students dropped 10 percent for the 2025-2026 cycle compared with the previous year. That decline stands in sharp contrast to overall application trends: total submissions through Common App actually rose 2 percent, reaching more than 1.5 million applicants across 1,146 institutions.
The drop matters well beyond admissions offices. International students pump tens of billions of dollars into the US economy each year and help sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs, from campus housing to local businesses near universities. Analysts warn that a sustained decline could also weaken the country’s research and scientific output, since many graduate programs rely heavily on foreign talent.
Compounding the uncertainty, prospective changes to F-1 student visas could affect thousands of students hoping to study in the United States, adding another layer of unpredictability for applicants weighing their options—including students from Colombia, whose numbers are highlighted in the original report.
For the full breakdown of the figures, including specific data on Colombian applicants, read the original report at El Tiempo.
Image: Danny Robinson.