Trump’s visa policies are not deterring international students from California universities

It’s become much more difficult for foreign students to study on U.S. college campuses during President Donald Trump’s second term. 

Last year, the Trump administration revoked over 1,000 student visas and paused interviews for prospective international students vying to study in the U.S. to incorporate social media vetting for applicants. Last month, the federal government also restricted how long international students can stay in the U.S. by ordering students to leave the country as soon as they finish their schooling.

Federal officials say the measures are intended, in part, to curtail visa overstays. They may also have contributed to a decline in international enrollment last year, which some estimates put at nearly 20%. Some groups renewed warnings that this fall will again see fewer foreign students coming to U.S. campuses, declining by as much as 9.5%. 

And yet, these visa restrictions are not keeping international students away from some California universities. 

At the University of California, the percentage of undergraduate enrollment of international first-year students increased, albeit marginally, in the years before and after Trump began his second term, according to UC enrollment data.  

At the graduate level, however, international enrollment declined 3% between 2024 and 2025, which resulted in roughly 600 fewer foreign students on campuses.  

It could take several years to determine how visa restrictions, federal funding cuts and other policies impact international student enrollment, said Valerie Lundy-Wagner, associate director of the Public Policy Institute of California’s Higher Education Center.

But, despite the visa restrictions, Lundy-Wagner said that because UC “is a globally regarded institution, people are still going to come.”

According to preliminary fall admission data, UC admitted its largest class of first-year students this year, including 23,569 international students. That figure reflects an 8% increase in admitted foreign students compared to last year, though fewer are expected to enroll at UC campuses. The system will release its Fall 2026 enrollment figures in December or January, a UC spokesperson said.

Other California universities have seen drops in enrollment. At the University of Southern California, enrollment of international students dropped by 3% last year. And at the California State University system, where international students make up a smaller portion of the student body compared to UC, foreign enrollment had been declining years before Trump took office. 

About 14% of UC’s enrollees are international students, according to PPIC. These students pay more in supplemental tuition than California residents, which helps subsidize the cost of college for in-state residents. For California residents, UC’s tuition for the 2027-28 school year costs $16,278 per year. For nonresident and international students, the annual cost of tuition is $57,300. 

Lundy-Wagner said that the decreases in enrollment at the graduate level have also been impacted by federal funding cuts for research programs. She said that some universities have reduced the number of admitted doctoral students whose programs are traditionally financed with the help of federal dollars.  

“The institutions are really trying to be attentive to the reality that doctoral students, in particular, need reliable funding sources to be supported,” Lundy-Wagner said.

Rachel Zaentz, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, said in a statement that changes to visa policies, financial and other external factors may make it less likely that international students enroll at UC. About 85% of UC’s undergraduate students are California residents, Zaentz noted. 

“We can’t speculate, but what is clear is that the enduring value of a UC education and the university’s global reputation for academic and research excellence continue to attract promising students,” Zaentz said.

Other states have experienced sharper declines. At the University of North Texas, the number of enrolled international graduate students dropped by nearly half, from about 6,200 students in fall 2024 to under 3,400 students the following year, according to The Texas Tribune. That decrease contributed to a $45 million budget shortfall that university officials projected earlier this year. 

Rachel Banks, senior director of public policy and legislative strategy at NAFSA: Association of International Educators, said federal policy changes are “injecting a lot of uncertainty” into students’ decision to study abroad, which she suspects will lead to fewer international students in the upcoming year.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced changes to how long international students on “F” visas could stay in the country. Previously, international students could stay in the U.S. until they completed their programs. Under DHS’ new rule, their admission is limited to four years, though students who need more time can apply for extensions. 

But Banks said DHS is already overwhelmed with immigration-related applications, and there are concerns that the federal agency won’t be able to process extension requests in a timely fashion.

International students applying to programs that will likely require them to be in the United States more than four years may not want to bother with the new, burdensome visa requirements, Banks said. 

“It’s a confluence of all these policy changes that is telegraphing a message to international students around the world to say that the United States isn’t necessarily welcoming,” Banks said. 

She noted that the Trump administration is also considering changes to a temporary work authorization program for international students that allows them to get professional experience in their industry. 

That has been a topic of conversation among international students on UC campuses. An international undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation by the federal administration, said that the job search for his fellow international students has been complicated by the recent policy changes.

“Definitely for recent graduates, I do notice a lot more hesitation to stay in the U.S. than there used to be,” the student said. 

The Berkeley student said anxiety rose among international undergraduates during the first year of Trump’s second term when federal agents arrested and attempted to deport several student activists, including Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil. 

But the mood on campus has settled down a bit since then. Foreign students who feared being denied entry to the US if they left the country have since become more comfortable traveling internationally, the student said. 

While UC has a larger share of foreign students, CSU has seen steeper declines in international enrollment recently. Last year, the system’s international enrollment declined roughly 14%, according to CSU Chancellor’s Office spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith. 

CSU’s international student enrollment began decreasing prior to Trump’s return to the White House. Between 2022 and 2024, the percentage of admitted international students who enrolled at CSU campuses dropped from 42% to 31%, which mirrored national trends, Bentley-Smith said. 

As to why some universities across the country have seen more pronounced declines in the number of international freshmen showing up to campus since Trump took office, Banks said, “We can say with some certainty that schools that have strong international brands and strong reputations seemingly are weathering the choppy waters a little better.”

This story was originally published by EdSource.