The number of first-year international students applying to U.S. universities fell to 148,780 in the 2025-26 admissions cycle, a decline of roughly 16,000 from the previous year, according to the Common Application, better known as Common App, a centralized online platform that allows undergraduate students to apply to 1,146 colleges and universities across all 50 U.S. states and several other countries.
The Common App 2025-26 End-of-Season Report indicates the decline was broad-based across much of the world, with applicants from Asia falling 11% and those from Africa dropping 17%.
The downturn follows years of strong growth for U.S. higher education. Common App data showed first-year international applicants increased steadily from 80,312 in the 2014-2015 academic year to 96,320 in 2018-2019.
Following a brief pandemic-driven dip in 2019-2020, the number rebounded to 107,112 in 2020-2021 and continued to grow until slightly dropping in 2024-2025.
This international downturn, however, runs counter to domestic trends, as the number of U.S. first-year applicants increased by 4%.
