As the new academic year is about to begin at most universities across the United States, many international students are navigating a mix of anxiety and uncertainty as the Trump administration’s crackdown on higher education and immigration continues.
The Guardian asked international students studying in the US to share how they are feeling as they prepare to return to campus. Some described how policy shifts have derailed their academic plans, while others said that they were now reconsidering whether the US is a place where they want to pursue their academic futures.
“Leaving the US after I receive my degree is increasingly a top priority,” said Andre Fa’aoso, a 20-year-old student from Auckland, New Zealand, who is entering his third year at Yale University.
“I have not been thinking too far into the future because I know policy settings are subject to change overnight, and I might wake up to find Yale at the center of a feud with the administration, with my right to study and remain in the US used as a pawn to leverage concessions from universities.”
While Fa’aoso is looking forward to resuming his studies, he said that his return to the US “is shadowed by a genuine nervousness about what it may be like to go through the US border in just over two weeks”.
“I am remaining optimistic that I will go through without a hitch,” he said, adding: “But a part of me has been preparing for what might happen if I get pulled into secondary screening or detained for some arbitrary reason, and I’m not alone in that thought process.”
One student from Singapore, who attends college in Columbus, Ohio, said they spent the summer at home and felt “scared and nervous” to return to the US this fall despite having “a visa and no legal problems”.
“I am a law-abiding person and make sure I avoid being near protests,” the student, who asked to remain anonymous out of safety concerns, said. “I will be more careful and keep my documents with me but I still am scared about being taken due to what I see on the news.”
Another student, who said they were from eastern Europe and were about to begin graduate studies at the Harvard School of Public Health this fall, echoed similar concerns.
The student, who asked to remain anonymous, wrote that despite living in the US for a decade and holding a valid visa, they were “worried” about passing through US customs as they head to the US after returning home for the summer.
Since retaking office, Donald Trump and his administration have made efforts to reshape higher education, targeting some of the country’s top universities and implementing a series of policy changes that have greatly affected international students.
The administration has halted and delayed student visa processing, revoked and later reinstated the legal status of hundreds of international students, expanded social media screenings for visa applicants, imposed new travel bans, slashed university research funding, arrested and detained several international students involved in pro-Palestinian campus activism and announced plans to start “aggressively” revoking the visas of some Chinese students.
The administration also attempted to block Harvard from enrolling international students, triggering a legal battle in which the university has accused the White House of unconstitutional retaliation for defying its political demands.
As of last academic year, more than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in US colleges and universities, making up roughly 6% of the student population. But a May 2025 survey found that interest in studying in the US among international students has fallen to its lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic.
A recent analysis by Nafsa, a non-profit association of international educators, projected that US universities could see a 30% to 40% decline in new international enrollment this upcoming academic year, which would lead to a 15% drop in overall enrollment this fall.
Nafsa attributed the decline to the travel ban, disruptions in visa interviews and processing, limited visa appointment availability and the new vetting procedures.
Notably, a decline in international student enrollment could pose a financial threat to many universities. International students often pay as much as two to three times the tuition of domestic students and according to Nafsa, contribute roughly $43bn annually to the US economy.
Many of the respondents to the Guardian’s callout were Iranian scholars, who detailed how their academic dreams were upended by the travel ban introduced in June. That ban restricts nationals from 12 countries, including Iran, from coming to the US.
Romina Ayoubi, a 23-year-old Iranian scholar, said that she was accepted into a PhD program at Columbia University set to start this fall and “had so many difficulties” obtaining a US visa. She said she was forced to go to a nearby country for the interview as Iran doesn’t have a US embassy. Now, she can’t even attend.
“It is very disappointing to see that all my peers are excited to start their academic journey in NYC and Columbia, and I am the only one who can’t be with them just because I’m Iranian,” Ayoubi said, adding: “I’m very determined about doing research in the best university of New York, and I hope that this situation will be better as soon as possible.”
Mahya, a 27-year-old veterinarian from Iran, said that she secured a fully funded graduate position at Ohio State University. Her visa was issued in April so she booked her flight and rented a home in Columbus. Then, in early summer, she received an email from the embassy “informing me about the additional processing and that my visa is no longer valid”.
“I had to cancel my lease, my flight, and wait for the embassy’s response,” she said. Not long after, “the travel ban came up and it was like all my dreams were worth nothing.”
Mahya said that she was “trying to stay calm and optimistic” and hoped that she would be able to “make it for the next semester to start achieving my academic goals at the Ohio State University”.
Several other Iranian students said that they’ had deferred their enrollment, hoping for future policy changes.
Donya Movahedi Noghani, a 36-year-old Iranian citizen, said she was accepted to a PhD program at Purdue University but was also unable to secure a visa due to the restrictions.
“It felt like my dreams had collapsed,” she said.
Now, Movahedi Noghani said she had received an offer from a university in Canada, and intends to pursue her education there instead.
Other Iranian students described feeling “hopeless”.
“All we ask for is the opportunity to pursue our goals, and to be judged by our potential, not our nationality,” one Iranian student who asked to remain anonymous, wrote. Another added, “every day, it feels like my dreams of studying in the US slip further away”.
“What’s happening now isn’t just about border control or national security,” they added.
“It’s about lives, potential and global cooperation, we chose the US because of its academic excellence and its promise of opportunity, but as other countries become more welcoming, the US risks losing not only talent, but goodwill.”
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