PNN – New data shows that the number of American students choosing to study at universities abroad, including in the UK, has increased sharply since Donald Trump’s attacks on the country’s top higher education institutions.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, the Financial Times newspaper wrote: Research firm Study portals, which assesses students’ academic preferences, reported that American students’ desire to earn a degree from British universities had increased by 25% in March 2025 compared to the same period the previous year.
American universities, including Harvard, are under increasing pressure from the federal government to give them authority over hiring and evaluating the qualifications of incoming students, as government aid to universities is cut and the visas of hundreds of foreign students are attempted to be revoked.
Education experts say Trump’s attacks on universities have also affected the level of interest international students have in studying in the United States and undermined the competitiveness of universities.
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Recent data shows that the desire of international students to study in the United States decreased by 25% last month compared to March 2024, while enrollments at British universities increased by 13% during the same period. The data also showed that the UK is likely to be the best alternative study destination to the US as rival markets such as Australia and Canada have targeted a large drop in student numbers using visa restrictions.
In the first three months of this year, American students’ interest in studying abroad was 27 percent lower than during the same period last year, according to data from Keystone, which tracks the behavior of more than 7 million students in graduate programs in 190 countries.
The Trump administration is trying to cut university funding under the pretext of anti-Semitism.
Harvard University has so far resisted the government’s request to hand over records related to so-called “illegal and violent foreign student activities” and sued the federal government.
About 1,500 students have lost their right to study in the United States after their visas expired. The Trump administration said on Friday it would keep their records until a new order is issued to legally revoke their visas.
Official statistics show that international student enrollment in US universities fell by 7% in the 2016-2017 academic years, during Trump’s first term. The policies of the new Trump administration are expected to have greater consequences for the country’s education system.