The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
While many Ohio public universities saw an increase in total enrollment this fall semester, international student enrollment is down, according to university enrollment data.
Bowling Green State University, Ohio State University, Ohio University, Shawnee State University, the University of Akron, the University of Cincinnati, Wright State University, and Youngstown State University all reported an increase in overall enrollment.
Shawnee State saw the biggest increase with 7.69%, followed by Ohio University with 3.6%, and Bowling Green with 3.5%.
Cleveland State University, Miami University, and the University of Toledo all saw decreases in overall enrollment.
Here’s the enrollment data for fall 2025:
- Bowling Green State University — 20,383 students (3.5% increase)
- Cleveland State University — 13,107 students (6.62% decrease)
- Miami University — 22,281 students (1% decrease)
- Ohio State University — 67,255 students (0.5% increase)
- Ohio University — 30,682 students (3.6% increase)
- Shawnee State University — 3,483 (7.69% increase)
- University of Akron — 15,318 students (3.28% increase)
- University of Cincinnati — 53,682 students (0.83% increase)
- University of Toledo — 14,290 students (1.03% decrease)
- Wright State University — 11,924 students (0.86% increase)
- Youngstown State University — 12,240 students (2.1% increase)
Central State University did not respond to the Capital Journal’s request for data.
Ohio public universities saw a decrease in international student enrollment compared to last fall.
International student enrollment for fall 2025:
- Bowling Green State University — 599 students (33.2% decrease)
- Cleveland State University — 1,249 students (34% decrease)
- Miami University — 663 students (22% decrease)
- Ohio State University — 5,996 students (4.9% decrease)
- Ohio University — 1,049 students (5.32% decrease)
- Shawnee State University — 33 students (13.15% decrease)
- University of Cincinnati — 3,879 students (15.96% decrease)
- University of Akron — 523 students (8.08% decrease)
- University of Toledo — 1,370 students (6.2% decrease)
- Wright State University — 1,550 (4.26% decrease)
- Youngstown State University — 1,251 (8.81% decrease)
Ohio State University has 3,226 students from China, 777 from India, 321 from Korea, 162 from Taiwan and 135 from Canada, according to university data.
Cleveland State had the biggest decrease with 34%, followed by Bowling Green with a 33.2% decrease, and then Miami with a 22% decrease.
“It’s tough,” said Cleveland State’s Vice President of Enrollment Management Randy Deike. “I think there are a lot of families that still see U.S. education as the best in the world. It’s just so many things are up in the air. Families are concerned about safety and all kinds of other stuff.”
A new higher education law recently took effect in Ohio that bans diversity efforts, prohibits faculty strikes, and regulates classroom discussion at Ohio’s public universities.
The law also creates post-tenure reviews, puts diversity scholarships at risk, sets rules around classroom discussion, and creates a retrenchment provision that blocks unions from negotiating on tenure, among other things. The law affects Ohio’s public universities and community colleges.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed Ohio Senate Bill 1 into law in March and students threatened to leave the state if S.B. 1 became law.
International students have faced challenges under the Trump administration. Many international students across the United States had their visas revoked for a period of time earlier this year, but then the Trump administration ultimately restored the visas at the end of April.
The Trump administration issued an executive order on his first day in office ordering the State Department to review all visa programs and make sure foreign nationals do not pose a threat to national security.
In June, the Trump administration announced a 19-country travel ban. Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen have a full travel ban. Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela have a partial travel ban.
