Recent changes to federal immigration and visa-granting policies have left universities across the state bracing for impact as international student populations decline on Michigan campuses.
In 2025, many of Michigan’s universities have seen a drop in international student enrollment. This trend applies to international students across all degree-seeking types and programs of study.
Jennifer Dehaemers, Central Michigan University’s vice president of student recruitment and retention, said CMU is among the hardest hit. The university lost over 400 international students from the fall of 2024 to fall of 2025.
In an emailed statement to faculty and staff, CMU President Neil MacKinnon said the drop has caused a significant gap in the university's budget. In his 2025 State of the University Address, he said the loss of revenue totaled around $4.3-$4.4 million.
"As we expect international student enrollment challenges and inflationary pressures to continue in the coming year, we need to address the financial impact these factors have had and will have on CMU," MacKinnon wrote.
MacKinnon went on to say it was too early in the process to know what kinds of cuts would be made, but assured faculty "there will be no across-the-board cuts."
The decrease is a direct result of prospective students having difficulty navigating new immigration and visa guidelines implemented by President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Dehaemers said the policy shifts have lead to fewer visa appointments being available, increased financial burdens for visa-seekers and an overall increase in students being denied visas.
“They have begun scrutinizing students' social media and asking different questions than they used to ask to help them determine whether the student is a risk to being in the United States,” Dehaemers said. “More students are not getting visas after that particular scrutiny. And we don't know exactly what they're looking for.”
At the very least, Dehaemers said, students who are determined to come to Michigan for their studies are likely to experience long delays in their process.
Dehaemers explained the increasingly arduous process for obtaining a visa to come to the U.S. has international students expanding their search to other countries whose process is less taxing and more affordable.
Ferris State University has also seen a decrease, but not as sharp as some of Michigan's other universities.
"The number of international students at Ferris State has dipped slightly over the last two years, from 153 students from 39 countries in 2023-2024 to 127 students from 32 countries this school year," a FSU spokesperson told WCMU in a statement.
Saginaw Valley State University managed to dodge the first wave of policy impacts. In 2025, SVSU’s international enrollment increased by just under 70 students.
Ken Fettig, SVSU’s vice president for enrollment management, said they have been prioritizing increasing the international population on campus for years.
“One of our priorities here is over the last couple of years is to diversify where our students are coming from, not just the countries or the regions, but the programs they're going into,” Fettig said. “So, I think that's helped us kind of weather this storm, if you will, a little bit, and how to steady international enrollment population, and eventually to grow that back.”
In addition to diversification efforts, Fettig said SVSU has been doubling down on outreach efforts and accepting a wider range of visas that students can obtain to enroll.
However, he went on to say that SVSU is already seeing a lower visa-approval rate from many of the countries that have increased federal restrictions.
Both Dehaemers and Fettig emphasized another byproduct of federal policy that is affecting international enrollment: negative perceptions of how potential students would be treated in the U.S. Recruiters overseas have emphasized a hesitancy from students and their families about coming to the U.S.
“International parents are sometimes worried about sending their kids to the United States because of things that are happening here,” Dehaemers said. “I know that the increased emphasis on ICE and Homeland Security and deporting people who are not U.S. citizens, unfortunately, in those, they have picked up people that are here legally. And that action puts fear in people, and they certainly read about it in their home countries.”
Fettig said that perception is getting increasingly harder for universities to fight.
According to Fettig and Dehaemers, international students are not the only ones losing out as a result of federal restrictions. Campus cultures and local economies become less robust with the absence of international students.
“We are increasingly facing the same problems that countries around the world are facing in a lot of different aspects of our society and our economy,” Fettig said. “There are hundreds of different ways to approach those issues and problems, and international students just bring such a rich diversity to those conversations and those solutions.”
In November, a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Education told the Washington Post that universities recieveing taxpayer money should "prioritize expanding opportunities for American students." They added the administration wants to ensure prospective international students “respect our laws, values, and national interests.”
We note WCMU's broadcast license is held by Central Michigan University. WCMU's newsroom is editorially independent from CMU, and the university is not involved in writing, editing or reviewing our reports.
