<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Black student enrollment is down. But the number of international freshmen has remained steady — at least at two of the nation’s most prestigious universities.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Data released this month about the incoming freshman classes from Columbia and Princeton have provided the first glimpse of whether the upheaval in U.S. higher education is affecting college enrollment.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">This month, college freshmen began to arrive for orientation at American campuses amid concerns that students from other countries <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/us/trump-visa-vetting-international-students.html" title="">have been blocked by new Trump administration policies</a>, along with signs that some might stay away out of anxiety about the fraught political climate.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">At the same time, admissions experts have been watching closely to see how the Supreme Court ban on race-conscious admissions in 2023 is continuing to reverberate across campuses.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The data from Columbia and Princeton offered an early indication that the turmoil has not yet triggered profound disruption in the flow of international students, at least at these elite universities. Neither Ivy League school, for example, saw international enrollment plummet this year.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Princeton even reported an increase from last year in foreign students in this fall’s class of 2029, while Columbia’s numbers held largely steady, though it is possible some international students may be delayed or unable to make it campus this fall because of the Trump administration’s enhanced vetting of student visas. It may also be impossible to know if the Trump administration’s actions changed the makeup of this year’s cohort in other ways, and whether top talent from other countries will come to study at the same rates.</p><div class="css-kbghgg"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171d1bw"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" data-tpl="i" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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