Towson international enrollment declines amid Trump admin. travel restrictions

By Natasha Salganik, Staff Writer

Towson University saw a decrease in graduate international student enrollment during the 2025-26 academic year after travel bans restricted student visas.

Compared to last year, Towson saw a 10.5% decrease in graduate student enrollment, according to data The Towerlight obtained. The drop in numbers is largely due to federal travel policies enacted by the Trump administration. 

In December 2025, President Donald Trump restricted entry from 39 countries by either a full or partial suspension. Most of the listed nations were in North and West Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. 

The administration said the restrictions are necessary for maintaining national security, saying that the nations on the travel ban list have “demonstrated persistent and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing” regarding their citizens. 

International graduate students made up 6% of the higher education student population in the United States for the 2024-25 academic year. 

Shannon Sterner, Educational and Cultural Program coordinator for Towson’s International Students and Scholars Office, said the travel bans have greatly impacted the international student body at Towson who rely on student visas to come study in the United States.

“We’ve had a steady drop of enrollment from international students,” she said. “Mostly because of bans on countries that their students are coming from.” 

Gorana Draguljic, a political science professor at Towson that specializes in international relations, said that qualifying for a student visa has become increasingly difficult. 

She said the strict policies stem from the administration’s resistance to multiculturalism and immigration, and the intent to target nations seen as political competitors resulted in many visa application rejections.

Nonie Thapa Magar, a Towson graduate student from Nepal, has seen recent visa denials among other international students.  

“I have heard that a lot of [Nepali] students are also getting denied without clear reasons on why they’re being rejected,” Thapa Magar said, adding that many international students are choosing to leave the United States after graduation. 

“They don’t want to stay in the U.S. anymore,” they said. “A lot of people just want to go back to their country as soon as they finish their degrees.”

The travel ban was issued almost five months ago and does not have a termination date.