# US college applications from foreign students fall 10% on visa curbs 2026-08-20T23:46:41+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets International student applications to US colleges for the upcoming fall term have fallen by about 10%, the steepest decline since Common App began collecting digital data in 2013. Nearly 16,000 fewer foreign students applied compared to 2025, with applications from Asia and Africa falling by double digits and European applications down 4%. The decline coincides with the Trump administration tightening student visa rules, including restrictions on changing majors, transferring universities and staying in the US after graduation. The drop is not uniform: elite universities accepting fewer than a quarter of applicants saw only a 1% decline, while less selective schools saw a 20% drop. Meanwhile, US domestic applicants rose 4%. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both outlets report the same Common App data and use Bloomberg as their sourcing, making the coverage essentially identical wire-style reporting. Livemint.com leads with the 10% headline and devotes significant space to the standardised-testing resurgence and university selectivity, framing the story as a data-driven market shift. Timesnownews.com leads with a more dramatic headline but its body is equally factual, with only the added line about schools bracing for decline hinting at alarm. The measured middle-ground takeaway is that the 10% drop is real and policy-driven, but elite universities are insulated. Watch whether the upcoming fall enrollment data confirms the trend, as next year's numbers will test if this is a floor or a further slide. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - livemint.com (neutral report) Leads with the Trump crackdown framing and standardised testing return, organisation-first data report - timesnownews.com (neutral report) Slightly more alarmist headline but text is straight wire-style report with no overt slant This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-21T00:17:44+00:00. Tags: Bloomberg, Common App, Trump administration, US student visas Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/us-college-applications-from-international-students-fall-10-in-biggest-decline-since-2013/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/us-college-applications-from-international-students-fall-10-in-biggest-decline-since-2013/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/