Visa processing delays, a result of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, have led to a decline in ASU's international student enrollment for the second year in a row. The University is hoping its experiment in London can salvage its global reach.
According to an ASU News article on Fall 2026 enrollment numbers, there are 11,500 students from 174 countries this fall — a 21% decrease from last year.
Last year, there were 14,600 international students, a 3% decline from the little more than 15,100 the year before, according to the August 2025 enrollment statistics.
According to Vice President of Academic Enrollment Matt López in the ASU News article announcing Fall 2026 enrollment figures, the decrease is due "entirely" to delays and visa denials for already admitted international students.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security final rule took effect on Sept. 15, establishing new limits on the duration international students can stay in the country based on the program of study listed on their Form I-20. Their stay in the U.S. must not exceed four years, plus 30 days for arrival and 30 days for departure, according to the department.
Sarah Spreitzer, the vice president and chief of staff for government relations at the American Council on Education, said recent proposed changes to the H-1B work authorization visa could also be a challenge for international students.
While separate from typical student visas, Spreitzer said many students who want to come to the U.S. to study might ultimately want to remain and work, but may have trouble now that DHS proposed an additional H-1B fee of $103,265 in August.
These are just some of the steps the Trump administration has taken in a greater effort to reduce immigration across the U.S., Spreitzer said.
"For international students who are trying to make the decision — are they going to invest the time and the money to come into the United States given that there's a lot of uncertainty and issues around our visa policy — they may start considering … one of the countries we usually compete for international students with," Spreitzer said.
Impact of international students on American universities
Courtney Brown, the vice president of strategic impact and planning for the Lumina Foundation, said international students have both a cultural and economic impact on universities and their U.S.-raised peers.
"International students are your classmates, they're your lab mates, they're your teammates, they're your friends," Brown said. "They bring different perspectives into conversations … that's really important for American students because you're getting these new perspectives."
Brown said when American students work alongside international students, it helps "bridge that gap" students will face after graduation when entering a global workforce.
"Whether you ever leave Arizona or not, or your classmates ever leave Arizona or not, the workforce you're going to be going into will be global," Brown added.
As for international students' economic impact, Brown said they contribute billions to the U.S. economy and support hundreds of thousands of jobs every year.
According to ASU research released in August 2025, international students generated an estimated $679 million in state gross domestic product.
ASU London as an alternative
ASU officials have begun directing students who cannot attend on campus in Arizona to the University's alternative pathways.
"For those not able to attend, options have been offered again, including the ability to begin online, throughout a partner university, and – new this year – ASU London," said an ASU spokesperson in an email.
READ MORE: ASU London combines American education with global reach
ASU London is an independent institution meant to serve the U.K., López said. Its three-year degrees are based on the British higher-education structure and academic calendar, with a curricular design offering "experiential learning," meaning ordinary classrooms are replaced by makerspaces, López added.
But as Brown noted, students from outside the U.S. who enroll in domestic universities have a major impact on the domestic economy. Spreitzer said the lack of international students will have long-reaching consequences.
"The best and the brightest are either going to be discouraged and not come here, or they're just going to be unable to study in the United States," she said. "All of that money that they're spending in the United States, it's just not going to be here."
López said London will be key to the University's long-term plan for maintaining its dominance in international enrollment.
READ MORE: University suggests ASU London for Indian international students amid visa uncertainty
López said each of the bachelor's degree programs has a pathway to a one-year master's degree in Arizona. A student can complete their three-year bachelor's degree in London and spend their fourth year at one of the four main ASU campuses.
The University hopes international students take advantage of the offering, allowing them to "have two degrees from two different countries in the same amount of time as it takes to traditionally get a four-year bachelor's degree in the United States," López said.
"That's where we think ASU will benefit the most from having the ASU London experiment," López said.
Edited by Carsten Oyer, Emilio Alvarado, Grace Lawrence and Sophia Keeling.
Reach the reporter at elbradfo@asu.edu and follow @emmalbradford__ on X.
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Emma Bradford is a senior reporter at The State Press and in her senior year, studying both journalism and political science with minors in business and Spanish. She has previously interned with AZ Big Media and NEWSWELL Chicago, and completed her capstone at the Cronkite News D.C. bureau; she is currently interning with KJZZ. This is Bradford's sixth semester with The State Press; she was a part-time politics reporter for three of those semesters and a full-time politics reporter for one.
