A record number of American students are turning to British universities amid mounting political pressure on higher education in the US.
New figures released Thursday by UCAS, the UK’s university admission service, show that 7,930 students from the US applied for UK undergraduate courses for fall 2025 — a 13.9% increase from the previous year and the highest total since records began in 2006.
The rise comes as UK universities experience a broad surge in applications, with this year’s total number of applicants reaching 665,070, up 1.3% year-on-year, with UK 18-year-olds also hitting a record high of 328,390 applicants.
International applications rose 2.2% overall, with significant increases from China, Nigeria, Ireland, and, notably, the US.
The jump in American interest coincides with a growing sense of instability in US higher education.
Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented crackdown on universities, freezing billions in federal funding and threatening elite institutions like Harvard and Columbia with sweeping restrictions.
His administration has cited concerns over antisemitism, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and campus activism.
Harvard alone has sued the federal government after $8.9 billion in grants and contracts were frozen when it refused Trump’s demands, including scaling back DEI initiatives and limiting admissions of international students.
The White House has also threatened to revoke the school’s tax-exempt status and launched reviews into dozens of other universities, including Princeton, Columbia, and Cornell.
While some universities, like Columbia, have conceded to Trump’s conditions to restore funding, others, including Harvard, have opted to fight back in court.
Some international universities have seized the moment by launching fast-track admissions, extending application deadlines, and dangling “unconditional offers” — even promoting proximity to tropical getaways — in a bid to lure US and international students away from American institutions.
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