Students exchange with American university representatives at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City in 2024
PHOTO: NGOC LONG
Sharp decline in interest in studying in the US
As of June 14, it has been more than 2 weeks since the US temporarily stopped issuing student visa interview appointments globally, including Vietnam.
Regarding the US's suspension of student visa interview appointments, The PIE News quoted Mr. Edwin van Rest, CEO of Studyportals (Netherlands) - an online portal used by 55 million people from 240 countries and territories to search for information and apply - estimating that more than half of international students scheduled to study in the US in September are unable to schedule visa interview appointments.
The impact of the above suspension, combined with recent moves, is so severe that if the situation does not change soon, the US$43.8 billion internationaleducation industry in the US could "suffer even more damage than during the pandemic", Mr. van Rest warned.
Another report from Studyportals found that international student interest in studying in the US has dropped to its lowest level since the pandemic began. "The US is losing its appeal to international students. This decline is reflected in two aspects: Not only are fewer students looking to study in the US, but the US is also losing market share to competitors such as the UK and Australia," the report said.
The search rate for training programs in the US has been continuously decreasing since the beginning of 2025 until now, as low as the recorded level at the time of the pandemic outbreak in 2020-2021.
PHOTO: STUDYPORTALS
Digging deeper, the Studyportals platform reports that weekly searches for US degree programs have halved over the past four months, compared to April 30 and January 5 of this year. During the same period, the US has also lost 30% of its market share to other countries, most notably the UK, followed by Finland, Ireland, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, new data released by Keystone Education Group shows that interest in studying in the US in April and May dropped by 55% and 52%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2024. This coincided with the time when Mr. Trump announced the reciprocal tax policy, started a public conflict with Harvard University and continuously revoked student visas of thousands of international students.
The organization's report added that in the short term, recent disruptions in student visa issuance have caused 35% of international students to consider postponing their plans to study in the US, while the remaining 30% said they might cancel their plans to study in the US and switch to other destinations in Europe or Asia.
China and the Middle East are concerned
Some student source markets are also moving away from the U.S. For example, Dr. Saqr Alkharabsheh, director of admissions at Oval Office Group in Jordan, said that many students from the Middle East feel “unsafe, unwelcome and unsafe” when thinking about studying in the U.S., and that about 60% of this group are considering other countries despite having received an offer from a U.S. school.
This fear is related to the ban on entry into the US for citizens from 12 countries and the restriction on entry for citizens from 7 countries that the Donald Trump administration recently passed, including Iran and Yemen - two countries on the entry ban list - in the Middle East.
Vietnamese students attend graduation ceremony in the US in 2025
PHOTO: NGOC LONG
Although no official policy has been adopted, Secretary of State Marco Rubio's confusing statement about "aggressively revoking visas for Chinese students" has also caused many Chinese students to decide not to study in the US at the present time, according to Hanks Jun Han, Vice President of Global Business Development at Bright Can-Achieve, based in Beijing, China.
"Chinese students often apply to many countries and receive many admission letters, so many of them have changed direction after the US 'freezes' visas," Mr. Jun Han added, saying that safety is one of the big factors influencing students' decisions in the country of a billion people.
Another area of concern is the potential decline in the number of “mid-career students” – those who plan to study abroad in the next 1-2 years. According to data from IDP, up to 44% of this group are considering studying abroad instead of the US. In addition, up to 87% of students are worried about changes in visa policies and post-graduation work rights, according to a survey of its student clients worldwide.
To minimize risks, US universities are advised to consider developing online learning and joint training programs to meet the growing demand of students with flexible options, that is, starting their studies online or at another institution, then transferring to study directly in the US later.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/du-hoc-my-giam-suc-hut-185250614204133845.htm
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