The number of students arriving from Asia to the US in August fell by nearly 24 per cent this year compared with last year, according to recently released US government data, marking the lowest August numbers on record outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The data, based on arrival records of international students published by the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA), includes both new students and existing students returning to the US. August arrival data typically serve as a reliable indicator of enrolment in US schools as students usually arrive that month in time for the fall semester, which generally starts in August or September.
The decline coincides with a series of measures adopted by US President Donald Trump’s second administration, including delays in visa processing, travel bans or restrictions on several Asian countries, threats to deport foreigners for expressing certain speech, and tighter vetting of visa applicants, especially those from Mainland China and Hong Kong.
Many international students who typically leave the US over school breaks have also opted to stay put this year, in fear that they wouldn’t be let in even if they have a valid visa.
Asia – which the ITA defines separately from the Middle East, unlike some other US agencies – accounted for more than 191,000, or 60 per cent of all student-visa arrivals this August.
China and India remained the two largest sources of international students, with more than 86,000 and over 41,000 arrivals, respectively. Both saw sharp declines from August last year – down 12.4 per cent for mainland China and 44.5 per cent for India. Hong Kong, meanwhile, saw a 7.7 per cent decrease in arrivals.
