There has been a 14% drop in the pool of international students in the LL.M applicant pool in the U.S., according to data from the Law School Admission Council. China and India, which traditionally produce the biggest cohorts of LL.M. students in the U.S., posted applicant declines of 21% and 23%, respectively.
Enrollment numbers for the next academic year aren’t yet available but the smaller applicant pool will likely translate to fewer international students on campus, said Gisele Joachim, the Law School Admission Council’s vice president for law school engagement. She added that student visa denials or delays could further depress international enrollment.
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These declining numbers have been attributed to the Trump administration’s aggressive stance on immigration, uncertainty over the availability of student and work visas, and stiffer competition from cheaper LL.M. programs outside the U.S. “There is a feeling that the United States, generally speaking, is maybe not as welcoming to international students as it used to be,” Joachim said.
Assistant admissions dean Joseph Lindsay said that LL.M. applications to the University of California, Berkeley School of Law are down 20%. He also said he’s doubtful the school will meet its fall target of 240 LL.M. students. Applications to the University of Michigan Law School’s LL.M. program declined 30% this year after an 8% drop the previous year, said senior assistant dean Sarah Zearfoss.
Zearfoss said that while law schools don’t publicly report acceptance rates for LL.M. programs, the rates are kept relatively steady due to factors such as students’ English proficiency.
“You don’t want to admit people who are not going to be able to do the work,” she said.
Data shows that the decline in international students in the LL.M applicant pool is part of a larger trend of a decrease in the number of students pursuing degrees in the U.S. International graduate student enrollment was down 12% nationwide in the fall of 2025, according to the Institute of International Education, amid a 1% reduction in international students overall.
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A report from April by Shorelight Education, a company that helps universities recruit international students, found that the U.S. denied 35% of international student visa applications in 2025. This is the highest in a decade, and Africa and Southeast Asia are seeing higher denial rates.
Students are reportedly looking elsewhere. Even before President Donald Trump returned to the White House, U.S. law schools were facing more competition from less expensive LL.M. programs in the U.K., Australia and Europe, said Sylvia Polo, an admissions consultant who previously ran the LL.M. programs at Columbia Law School and the University of Miami School of Law. “I’ve had people say to me, ‘I always wanted to do an LL.M in the states, but now I want to do it in the U.K,’” Polo said.