(WISH) — International student enrollment at Indiana’s largest universities, Indiana University and Purdue University, has significantly decreased, according to a report issued Thursday from Axios Indiana.

The report highlights a notable drop in international student numbers, with Purdue University’s international graduate enrollment falling from 6,100 in 2024 to 5,283 in 2025. Indiana University also experienced a 14% decrease, with 5,645 international students enrolled in 2025 compared to 6,578 in 2024.

Dan Heiser, a special adviser at the University of Indianapolis, noted the economic impact of the enrollment decline. “It’s a bigger economic impact than soybeans, it’s a bigger economic impact than aluminum.”

Heiser attributed part of the decline to policies from the Trump administration, which include a hold on visa interviews. “The State Department put a hold on visa interviews. We had about a two-month period, roughly two-month period, where international students couldn’t get in to the consulates or the embassies around the world.”

Ball State University’s international enrollment numbers were not immediately available, with the school advising News 8 to file a public records request.

The University of Indianapolis reported relatively stable numbers, with 111 international students in 2024 and 98 in 2025, a minor change in the context of their overall enrollment.

Heiser said that while some categories of international enrollment were down, others were up, resulting in a relatively flat overall trend for the University of Indianapolis. “We’ve been fortunate in that regard. Certainly, there are some categories we’re down, other categories we’re up, but overall we’re flat. We’re a little bit low, about 2% but nothing like what the national figures are looking like.”

A July report from the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying organization called NAFSA: Association of International Educators estimated Indiana could lose more than $157 million in revenue from the decline in international students.

This story was created from a script aired on WISH-TV. This story was formatted for WISHTV.com using AI-assisted tools. Our editorial team reviews and edits all content published to ensure it meets our journalistic standards for accuracy and fairness.

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