Dear Erica,
A happy Friday to you as we close-out a celebratory International Education Week. I hope you, like me, have been impressed by the breadth of ways the international community came together this week and put on a show of strength, unity, and energy. It has been a joy to see the #IEW2025 and #ChampionIE posts on social. Be sure to have a look for a dose of inspiration!
On a serious note, this week was filled with new data and analysis that gives us significant cause for concern about the state of international student enrollment and the resulting impact on the U.S. economy. As described by panel of experts from NAFSA, JB International, and IIE (the event recording is available to all), IIE’s Open Doors data for 2024-25 and its Fall 2025 Snapshot on International Student Enrollment reveal some troubling trends—which have short and long term consequences for the U.S. economy and our competitiveness in research and innovation.
Some key takeaways:
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NAFSA and JB International’s economic analysis shows that spending by international students and their families in the 2024-25 academic year boosted the U.S. economy by nearly $43 billion and more than 355,000 jobs. While impressive, this represents a 2 percent decrease compared to the record-setting totals we saw in last year’s analysis and is the first dip we’ve seen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
- For every three international students, one U.S. job is created. This is the result of their spending across sectors including higher education, dining, retail, transportation, etc.
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IIE’s Fall 2025 Snapshot shows that new international student enrollment at U.S. universities declined by 17 percent, contributing to a decline in overall international student enrollment of 7 percent, if you exclude students who are participating in Optional Practical Training (OPT).
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NAFSA and JB International’s economic analysis of Fall 2025 enrollment finds that the decline in new enrollment translates to a $1.1 billion decrease in international student contributions to the U.S. economy and almost 23,000 fewer jobs supported.
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As NAFSA executive director and Fanta Aw observed in our press release, “there are alarming declines that we ignore at our own peril. Other countries are creating effective incentives to capitalize on our mistake.”
We put forth key policy solutions to reverse these trends, including preserving Duration of Status and protecting OPT—which the current USCIS Director has threatened to restrict or abolish. See below for an easy way to share this data and the policy solutions with your members of Congress.
The ramifications of these alarming trends to U.S. higher education and beyond was covered by several major media outlets this week. See stories by Marketplace, the Washington Post, NBC News, and USA Today, to name a few.
To shed light on the current state of international student enrollment beyond the United States, NAFSA collaborated with Studyportals and Oxford Test of English to release the results of the Global Enrolment Benchmark Survey. Top findings from the Fall 2025 enrollment survey of 461 institutions worldwide reveal that: North America is losing students; Asia, Europe, and the United Kingdom are gaining students; and government policies—specifically visa rules and restrictions—are the biggest concern among institutions.
Download the summary report of the Global Enrolment Benchmark Survey and join NAFSA’s Joann Ng Hartmann in a webinar on December 4 that will examine the results. Note that institutions that take the survey receive a customized benchmark report, so be sure your institution participates in the future.
Beyond international student data, Open Doors also released new U.S. student study abroad data covering the 2023-24 academic year showing a six percent increase in U.S. students studying abroad, continuing the rebound following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy was again the most popular destination country, followed by Spain and the United Kingdom. Of particular note, Japan cracked the top five; the first time a non-European country has done so.
That more domestic students are going abroad is a ray of good news—especially when you consider new research released by The Forum on Education Abroad this week, “The Value of Education Abroad to Employees and Employers.” The report provides an estimate of the impact education abroad participation has on the U.S. economy and determines that education abroad alumni are more likely to advance to leadership roles than their peers in certain fields.
In other news, the State Department announced on November 18th that the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will take on management of international education programs managed by the Department of Education, specifically the Title VI and Fulbright-Hays programs. This is part of a broader plan to dismantle the Department of Education and transfer its responsibilities to other federal agencies.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
This newsletter will be off next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will remain watchful for updates on the status of a final rule on Duration of Status, and what may happen next with OPT, as DHS has yet to publish a proposed rule regarding its future.
Please enjoy some time with your loved ones. I am, as ever, grateful for the Connecting Our World community of readers and doers and supporters!
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
