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Student arrivals to US continue to fall, declines from Asia most pronounced
The declines were most pronounced from Asia, the largest international education market, as the Trump administration's immigration policies created bottlenecks and a chilling effect on prospective students.
Total arrivals on student visas decreased 28 per cent to just under 79,000, the biggest monthly drop so far this year, data from the International Trade Administration show. Student arrivals from India plummeted 46 per cent while China posted a 26 per cent decline. The twin drops from the two largest sources of foreign students provides a grim snapshot that threatens to disrupt the financial models of US colleges and universities.
US universities have already warned that first-time foreign student enrollment on campuses are projected to fall by about 30 per cent this fall, potentially costing the education sector $2.6 billion in tuition revenue. The sharp downturn follows a series of policy changes and administrative hurdles from the White House around tightening immigration and foreign student scrutiny.
The measures have created a climate of uncertainty and resulted in significant backlogs and delays at US embassies and consulates in key Asian markets.
'There are real reasons for concern,' said Zuzana Cepla Wootson, deputy director of federal policy at the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, whose members are university leaders. 'It's part of a broader pattern under this administration. The travel ban, expanded screening processes, appointment backlogs — all these create uncertainty for students from China, India and beyond.'
The Trump administration announced a pause in interviews for student visas in late May. In mid June, the State Department said it would resume interviews, while also ordering reviews of applicants' social-media profiles. The timing of these policies, during the peak summer visa application season, has been particularly damaging and doesn't bode well for student arrivals in August, which historically is the peak month for new students entering the US.
The visitor arrival figures don't break down whether those coming in are new or returning students. Many already on student visas may have chosen to stay in the US and not travel this summer due to the administration's scrutiny of international scholars, Wootson said.
Officials at schools with large Asian student populations, such as the University of Southern California, have said that that a continued decline could result in tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue. USC already faces a deficit of $200 million. Arizona State University President Michael Crow meanwhile said visa delays have been more disruptive than the pandemic.
A record 1.1 million international students enrolled in US higher education institutions in the 2023-24 school year, according to Open Doors, which collects data on foreign scholars. India was the top country, with nearly 332,000 students, followed by China with about 277,000 that academic year.
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Hindustan Times
a few seconds ago
- Hindustan Times
Putin's desire to destroy Western unity rages on
On august 16th, a day after his summit with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin summoned Russia's grandees to the Kremlin's Hall of the Order of St Catherine. Built in tsarist times to show off the glory of the Russian empire, the hall was the setting for Mr Putin's account of his achievements during the visit to Alaska, a former imperial possession. He praised Mr Trump's 'sincerity' and efforts to end the war. 'It moves us closer to making necessary decisions,' he said. It was in the same hall, three and half years ago, that Mr Putin had gathered his terrified courtiers and ordered them, one after another, to make the case for the recognition of the separatist-held territories in eastern Ukraine. That bizarre televised spectacle turned out to be the signal for starting the invasion of Ukraine. His post-Alaska gathering was an indication that the war might now end—on Russia's terms, of course. The message simultaneously reflects both exhaustion from war, and Mr Putin's confidence of winning either through fighting or a favourable negotiation. His peace initiatives and military actions are aligned to the same goal: more power. Read more of our recent coverage of the Ukraine war Mr Putin's tone was emollient: 'We respect the US administration's position which wants the hostilities to stop as soon as possible. So do we.' One person who seems to take Mr Putin's words at face value is Mr Trump, who, over the months, has displayed an almost clinical dependence on the Kremlin's strongman, and has recoiled every time Ukraine and its European allies have urged him to apply pressure on him. During the follow-up summit in Washington with Volodymyr Zelensky and seven European leaders, a hot mic caught Mr Trump whispering to Emmanuel Macron, the French president: 'I think he [Mr Putin] wants to make a deal for me, you understand that? As crazy as it sounds.' Mr Trump, despite earlier promises, has not imposed sanctions and no longer demands a ceasefire as a precondition for peace talks. Mr Putin is unlikely to be bothered by the smiles, shoulder-slapping and assurances of support for Ukraine at the White House. As far as Moscow is concerned, the meeting produced little more than general talk of security guarantees—and these will only apply if Mr Putin agrees to peace. Mr Trump's call to Mr Putin, made in the middle of his meeting with European leaders, offered him reassurance: Mr Trump will do nothing about Ukraine without consulting Russia. Mr Putin's own summit with Mr Trump, on the other hand, was much more of a success. Branded as a murderous criminal by Mr Trump's predecessor, he received a red-carpet reception and applause from Mr Trump, who ended his diplomatic isolation and restored Mr Putin to the position of power-player in Europe. 'I congratulate all of us on a perfect summit. It was grand. To win everything and lose nothing—only Alexander III could do that,' Alexander Dugin, an ultra-imperialist philosopher and proponent of war, enthused, slipping in a mention of one of Mr Putin's favourite tsars. It is still unclear what the two summiteers agreed, but Mr Putin did not really go to Alaska to negotiate, but to preen. The audience for this show, hastily arranged at Mr Putin's request, was not just Mr Trump, but Mr Putin's own elite and citizens. Recent polls have shown that 70% of Russians think that their country has been successful on the battlefield. At the same time 60% now favour peace talks. Fear of defeat is long gone; but there is not much appetite for more fighting. One well-informed businessman sums up the attitude of the elite: 'Nobody gives a fuck how it is going to end, as long as it does. Putin can sell anything as a victory.' At a minimum, though, Mr Putin wants this to include the recognition, by America at least, of Russia's occupation of Crimea and the war-seized land corridor that connects it to Russia; the permanent exclusion of Ukraine from nato; and presidential elections in Ukraine. 'No deal is likely while Zelensky is in power,' one Russian insider says. Mr Putin's new enthusiasm for diplomacy reflects his constraints. The Russian economy is heading into recession; in the first seven months of this year its budget deficit has overshot the target for the whole of 2025—unsurprising, considering a 20% increase in government spending in those seven months. At least 5% of all government spending now goes on maintaining a contract army that is mostly fighting in Ukraine, according to Re:Russia, a Vienna-based think-tank. Labour shortages mean that civilian industry is struggling. This does not mean that Mr Putin's position is critical—he can always impose yet more pain on the economy—but as Kirill Rogov, the head of Re:Russia, says, 'this will increase risks and internal tension, which will radically change Russians' perceptions of the costs of war.' There is also a question of military gains. For the third summer in a row, Russia has failed to break the Ukrainian front line. Despite advancing at a somewhat faster pace than before, it still controls only about a percentage point of Ukrainian territory beyond what it held at the start of 2023. Mr Putin does not want to risk mass mobilisation, or to carry on the war for another year. The vast human and economic cost would only highlight the failure of his army to overpower Ukrainian forces. 'Everybody understands that [carrying on] the war is senseless and it is time to end it,' one member of the Russian business elite says. This does not mean, however, that Mr Putin is about to stop. As Mr Rogov says, the Russian leader is still hoping that the next two months could produce a break-through in Ukraine, which is suffering from a shortage of manpower and high rate of desertion. 'He is opening the diplomatic door as a contingency, in case his offensive does not yield the desired effect,' he explains. For Mr Putin endless negotiations are simply another part of his war plans. They keep Mr Trump on his side and help him in his broader objective of sowing dissent within the West and inside Ukraine. As one Russian blogger puts it, 'the main thing to understand is that the war has not stopped. Our president will consider the [diplomatic] options, and in the meantime, the military continues its work to liberate our territories.' Mr Putin's demand that Ukraine hand over territory in the western Donbas that he has not won on the battlefield is designed to trigger an internal political crisis in Ukraine. He knows that Mr Zelensky has pledged not to give up an inch of land, but that he may lose Mr Trump's support if he does not acquiesce. To achieve his strategic goal of dismantling the post-cold war security order, Mr Putin wants to unravel Ukraine politically, drive America out of Europe and undermine Europe's support for Ukraine. He is yet to achieve any of this. But even if the active phase of the war were to come to a halt, that struggle to destroy Western unity will continue. To stay on top of the biggest European stories, sign up to Café Europa, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.
Indian Express
a few seconds ago
- Indian Express
After Trump rules out US troops in Ukraine, Russia warns of security talks without Russia
Day after US President Donald Trump ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine to enforce a potential peace deal with Vladimir Putin, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, 'We in favour of a security guarantee for Ukraine being reliable,' adding: 'Questions of security cannot be resolved without Russia.' 'We hope Washington understands that discussing security issues without Russia is a path to nowhere,' he said. In a phone interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump was asked whether he could assure listeners that the US would not deploy troops on the ground in Ukraine. 'You have my assurance, and I'm president,' Trump responded. However, he indicated that Washington might still be prepared to provide air support to Ukraine as part of efforts to secure a deal. 'There'll be some form of security. It can't be NATO,' he said, ruling out Ukraine's membership in the alliance. 'They're willing to put people on the ground. We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you could talk about by air.' Lavrov on Wednesday also praised the new stance from Washington, saying: 'United States has an increasingly clear understanding of the root causes of the Ukraine crisis.' 'It is good that the current US administration does not support the position of continuing the Ukraine war,' he added. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy had shown 'a willingness to sit down with each other', adding: 'I understand accommodations for that meeting are under way.' Bloomberg reported that Hungary has offered to host the talks, while French president Emmanuel Macron suggested Geneva, with Switzerland's foreign minister promising 'immunity' to Putin despite the international criminal court's indictment against him. Earlier, speaking alongside European leaders in Washington on Monday, Trump said Putin had agreed to face-to-face talks with Zelenskyy in the coming weeks to try to end the three-and-a-half-year war. Moscow has not confirmed such a meeting, which would be the first between the two leaders since the invasion. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said only that Putin and Trump had discussed 'raising the level of representatives' in the talks, without explaining what that would mean or mentioning a trilateral meeting with Trump and Zelenskyy. On state TV, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said any encounter between Putin and Zelenskyy would have to be prepared 'very thoroughly'. In his Fox News interview the same day, Trump acknowledged the possibility that Putin may resist an agreement. 'We're going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks … It's possible that he doesn't want to make a deal,' he said, warning that Putin would face a 'rough situation' if that proved true.
Time of India
a few seconds ago
- Time of India
Russia says it will keep selling oil to India despite US tariffs
Russia expects India to continue buying its oil, a senior official said, even as the South Asian nation faces higher US tariffs and harsh criticism from Trump administration officials for the trade. India's imports of Russian crude are likely to stay at current levels, Evgeny Griva, the deputy trade representative of Russia in India, told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday. The remarks come amid rising tariff tensions between the US and India. President Donald Trump has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods and threatened to double it to 50 per cent on Aug. 27 — a rate that would make India's $85 billion in annual US exports uncompetitive. Half of that penalty is for New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, which the US sees as helping fund Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine. India has defended its right to buy from the cheapest source, calling the tariffs 'unreasonable.' Russia sells oil to India at about a 5 per cent discount, leaving Asia's third-largest economy with few alternatives, Griva said. He projected bilateral trade to grow by about 10 per cent a year. For India, the advantage of Russian oil is that it can trade at a lower cost, making it a key tool for keeping domestic inflation in check. India has edged away from the US in the face of tariff threats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Putin as a 'friend' after a call with the Russian leader this week and New Delhi has moved to bolster relations with China. Modi is set to visit China in late August — his first trip to the country in seven years — to meet President Xi Jinping. India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Russia to co-chair bilateral talks on trade, science and other issues. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday repeated Washington's threat to raise import duties on Indian goods, saying it was 'secondary tariffs for buying the sanctioned Russian oil.' He said India was 'profiteering' from the oil purchases, and 'some of the richest families in India' were benefiting. India historically relied more on the Middle East for oil, importing little from Russia. That changed in 2022, after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and a $60-per-barrel price cap imposed by the Group of Seven nations that aimed to limit the Kremlin's oil revenues while keeping supplies flowing globally. India's imports from Russia amounted to about 1.7 million barrels a day, or nearly 37 per cent of the nation's overseas purchases, in mid-2025. After a brief pause earlier this month, India's state-run refiners have returned to buying Russian oil, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. The US is India's top trading partner, while Russia ranks fourth. Roman Babushkin, a senior Russian diplomat in India, said Moscow is ready to take more of India's tariff-hit goods and help India manufacture jet engines domestically.
