Canada and the US are losing international student enrolments to Europe and Asia
Short on time? Here are the highlights:
- A new study paints a clear picture of the challenges faced by North American universities as a result of government policies
- Enrolments and commencements are down in the US and Canada for both bachelor’s and master’s programmes
- Asia and Europe are gaining market share, and the UK is holding steady
Canadian and American universities are struggling amidst government policies meant to curb immigration and/or international student numbers. Meanwhile, Asian and European institutions are gaining market share of international student enrolments.
These are the highlights of the newly released Global Enrolment Benchmark Survey by NAFSA, Oxford Test of English, and Studyportals, which surveyed 461 universities across 63 countries about their international enrolments in the latest intake (August–October 2025).
Visa and immigration issues rose even further in Canada (90%).
The situation is especially worrisome for Canadian universities, which are recording large decreases in new international enrolments (i.e., students coming for a study programme in Canada for the first time). As shown in the table below, new enrolments are down by more than a third at both the bachelor’s and master’s levels. The US is down significantly in new enrolments at the master’s level, and moderately for bachelor’s programmes.
Meanwhile, Asian universities are welcoming notably more new students into bachelor’s programmes, and European institutions are seeing a nice bump at the master’s level. UK university respondents report moderate increases in new international students at both levels.
