The University of Illinois Springfield is seeing fewer students this semester as international enrollment fell amid federal immigration policy changes and deportation fears.
UIS’s total enrollment declined 5.7% since last year — down to 4,364. The drop was driven largely by the international student population falling to 715 this year from 957 in 2024, statistics released on Sept. 10 showed.
UIS Chancellor Janet Gooch said the university will do what it can to support international students, but the issue lies at the federal level.
“As a university, we need to focus on what we can control,” Gooch said during a news conference. “We can’t control students getting visa appointments or getting denied visa applications, but we can do everything in our means to help international students feel supported.”
Gooch said UIS will look into expanding its international footprint and increasing international enrollment from more nations.
If UIS can see more enrollment from a greater variety of countries, the university will be more resilient to federal government immigration crackdowns, Gooch said.
She added that because UIS has a large international population from India, the university was particularly affected when President Donald Trump issued tighter immigration restrictions on that country.
“It’s important that we don’t have students from just one country because you can really see an inordinate impact if something happens with that particular country and their ability to get visas and visa applications approved,” Gooch said.
Gooch said UIS is working with Shorelight, a company that helps recruit international students to study in the U.S., to improve its reach in nations like Kuwait and Nigeria.
The chancellor said new immigration policies have made recruiting international students a challenge and that the university will have to show greater support for these students in response.
She added the school offers international students counseling services and immigration legal support.
“I think we do have to question whether international students feel comfortable coming here right now. Do they feel invited and welcomed?” Gooch said. “When we have international students on our campus, we have to make sure that they do feel welcome and supported.”
While UIS hopes to attract more international students, uncertainty about federal immigration policy is making U.S. universities a harder sell to prospective students.
Over 6,000 college students had their student visas revoked as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown in 2025, a federal spokesperson told reporters in August.
Since Trump’s inauguration, the government has expanded the reasons international students could have their legal status put in jeopardy and sped up the process of deportations. Federal authorities have targeted international students who have shown support for Palestine, who they accuse of antisemitism and supporting terrorism.
State officials told embassies and consulates in June to review student visa applicants for “hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles.”
Despite UIS’s overall enrollment decline, the campus saw an increase in freshmen, up to 312 this fall, compared to 262 last year, a 19% jump.
Additionally, the three-campus University of Illinois System’s combined enrollment increased by 3.4% to 101,081.
Jack O’Connor is a graduate student in the UIS Public Affairs Reporting program.
