SDSU’s U.S/nonresident (international) student population has decreased by 16.3% in the last decade, dropping from 945 students in 2016 to 791 in fall 2025.
International students make up the second largest student population on campus, accounting for 6.5% of the total student population, according to the South Dakota Board of Regents 2026 factbook.
But while there’s been an overall 16.3% decline in international student enrollment from 2016 until now, looking just at the 5-year span from 2021 to 2026 tells a different story. In those five years, SDSU saw a 34.3% rise in international student enrollment.
The overall decline of this number can be attributed to many different reasons: financial issues, travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration’s policies on immigration and global issues as a whole, according to university officials.
Director of International Student and Scholar Engagement Kirsten Linke explained that when international students and their parents are looking at SDSU, the two most common questions are about safety and finances.
Linke said that after a video surfaced of SDSU students saying racist comments in downtown Brookings, she has had students reach out with safety concerns.
However, Linke said that she feels the university is doing the best it can given the legalities of the investigation.
“The investigation is happening in a way to proceed through the channels that the law allows us to,” Linke said.
The SDSU community may still be left with questions and concerns over the investigation, but Linke mentioned some ways to remedy that. She said the senior administration is planning on holding follow up sessions with students to gauge their feelings and thoughts on programming that was implemented as a result of the incident.
Linke also urged the Students’ Association to work with senior administration to make changes to the student code of conduct, highlighting a recently passed SA ordinance, which outlined that SA denounces hate speech.
International student enrollment declines aren’t just plaguing the local academic landscape, though. Shawn Helmbolt, the assistant vice president for enrollment management, explained that declining international student enrollment has been a national trend.
He said the overall number of international students applying for colleges and universities in the U.S. has dropped. This has been primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now the Trump administration’s changes to immigration.
Helmbolt said the federal government now does more thorough research into visa applicants and placing restrictions on students coming from certain countries.
“There are restrictions for students from certain countries that weren’t there six months ago or a year ago,” Helmbolt said. “And a little bit more, you know, attention and scrutiny placed on that visa process for students coming from any country.”
These restrictions and more in-depth research into international students have caused some students to miss their targeted semester of college because the visa process takes too long.
Helmbolt ensured that SDSU’s enrollment programs are designed to help international students through these exact situations in order to make their desires of attending SDSU a reality.
Although these statistics may look bleak right now, Linke did reassure that it is natural for international student enrollment numbers to ebb and flow over the years. The exact same factors that can prevent students from studying in different countries one decade, such as the geopolitical landscape of the world and financial stability, can also be the reason a student is able to study internationally another decade.
Geographic Information Sciences graduate student and former President of the Nepalese Students’ Association Image Bhattarai said trust is one of the most crucial factors of the international community’s relationship with SDSU.
Bhattarai explained that the school trusts international professors to lead their classes, who then make good relations with their colleagues and students. International students and these professors find mutual trust in one another through time spent in class and work ethic. Lots of these professors will then offer teaching assistant and research lab jobs to these students, where the school builds their trust in them, too.
From plentiful on-campus job opportunities to helping in classrooms, international students and SDSU trust one another both in an academic setting and in the community.
Trust doesn’t make the difficulties of being an international student in the United States in 2026 disappear, though. Financial issues, increased scrutiny over visas and problems traveling back home are among some of the lingering challenges Bhattarai said international students face.
One thing he and his international colleagues have not run into issues with, however, has been finding community here in Brookings. Bhattarai said Brookings and SDSU have only ever been welcoming and kind to him.
“As far as I’m concerned, the community out here in Brookings, as well as the people, are really good,” Bhattarai said. “They are really welcoming and they treat everyone good and equally.”
