U.S. business schools (MBA) are facing a crisis as President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policy has raised the bar for visas. Some schools that failed to fill their incoming classes because of visa issuance delays are struggling for survival, reshaping curricula and more.
According to Bloomberg, the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland was hit the hardest, with the number of incoming students plunging to half of usual levels. The school initially expected 70 new students, but actual enrollment was only 36.
This situation arose from a backlog caused by the Trump administration's temporary suspension of visa interviews, citing stricter screening of social media (SNS). As student visa interviews worldwide were halted for about three weeks in May last year, a large number of admitted students who failed to obtain visas before the start of the term dropped out. Shelby Brookshire, Maryland associate dean, said, "Both domestic and international students were hesitant to leave their jobs due to economic uncertainty, but the decisive blow was the visa issue."
Bloomberg said the trend is spreading across the United States. Data on the top 30 MBA programs in the United States selected by Bloomberg Businessweek show that international student enrollment in the fall term last year fell about 5% from a year earlier. Domestic enrollment, by contrast, held at normal levels.
In particular, even the 30% share of international students, once regarded as a "psychological floor" for ensuring diversity, has collapsed. The share of international students at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania stood at 26%, while Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business fell to 22%, down sharply from 30% a year earlier.
Ironically, the number of MBA applicants has increased. According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), foreign MBA applicants for 2025 rose from the previous year, but many admissions offers failed to convert to enrollments because of visa barriers.
Visa issues are directly affecting school operations. As top-tier schools absorbed large numbers from their waitlists to fill visa-related gaps, admitted students at mid-tier schools jumped to higher-ranked programs in a chain defection. In fact, at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, the so-called "summer melt" rate—the share who cancel after committing—surged from the usual 10% to 20%.
Analysts say the situation is likely to worsen. In December last year, the Trump administration announced a suspension of student visas for 39 countries, including Nigeria, triggering a strong backlash, with applications from Africa—a core source of demand—plunging by as much as 60%.