A new report from the American Council on Education (ACE) has revealed international student declines are having a tangible fiscal impact on campuses across the US, with 73% of senior leaders reporting decreased revenues, and 59% citing extreme or moderate concern for immigration restrictions and visa revocations.
Public perceptions about the value of postsecondary education, and long-term financial viability were the most pressing issues cited by the 300 leaders across US institutions and systems.
“As the new academic year begins, postsecondary leaders are confronting a volatile environment shaped by public scepticism about the value of college, heightened federal and state policy intervention, and mounting institutional pressures around finances and enrolment,” wrote the survey authors, Ezequiel Jimenez and Danielle Melidona.
At the institutional level, nearly half of respondents (49%) indicated the long-term financial viability of their university was their most pressing concern, with two in 10 reporting extreme concern.
At the sector level, leaders displayed the most concern for policymaker and public perceptions of the value of postsecondary education.
Strikingly, over eight in 10 respondents reported extreme (54%) or moderate (28%) concern about how state and federal decision makers perceive higher education, while nearly three-quarters were worried about public perceptions of value.
Meanwhile, three quarters of presidents reported extreme or moderate concern for academic freedom and institutional autonomy, with this issue topping the list of matters for which senior leaders felt they were the least prepared to navigate.
It comes as US higher education is increasingly being questioned by those in power, illustrated by the myriad policy changes under the Trump administration hiking visa barriers for international students, challenging institutional autonomy and scrutinising links with international partners.
Postsecondary leaders are confronting a volatile environment shaped by public scepticism about the value of college
Ezequiel Jimenez & Danielle Melidona, ACE
Federal research funding has also come under pressure, with grants withheld from some institutions and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) dramatically slowing its funding of biomedical research.
Among presidents at four-year public institutions, 62% said funding reductions had decreased revenue, with more than one in three reporting a slowdown in research output.
What’s more, senior leaders highlighted concerns about restrictive conditions being attached to federal grants and increasing regulation that limits innovation.
As for those reporting international student declines, the functional consequences varied. While nearly a quarter reported budget reductions in research or student support, 9% said programs had closed or merged, and 11% reported a decrease in financial aid.
Across the board, 85% of presidents said the current policy environment had affected their ability to deliver financial aid. The survey also asked leaders about accreditation challenges and their preparedness to comply with new federal reporting requirements associated with Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB).
Elsewhere, among leaders’ written answers, artificial intelligence emerged as a cross-cutting concern, with the report warning that AI had “reached a threshold of urgency”.