2025 was a turbulent year for graduate management education

(GME), compounding persistent challenges for some business

schools and creating new opportunities for others. With changing

government policies, uncertain economic slowdowns, and evolving

candidate preferences, long-standing trends in the flow of

international talent are being re-routed.

This paper aims to identify the latest trends in international student

mobility and which factors are shaping them. To explore these

questions, we draw on data from the most recent Application

Trends Survey report about the incoming class for the 2025-2026

academic year; fall 2025 enrollment data from a pulse survey

conducted via GMAC’s “School Satisfaction Survey” from September

24 to October 17, 2025; and findings about candidate application

plans from the full calendar year of 2025 GMAC Prospective

Students Survey results.

The first section highlights the latest in international students’

application, enrollment, and consideration patterns. The second

section discusses the factors behind these trends. Ultimately, we

find that formal student visa and immigration policies—and their

informal secondary effects—are driving international talent away

from traditional, English-speaking hubs of graduate management

education across each stage of the student application journey. At

the same time, macro and institution-level factors are increasing

international enrollment among programs in countries that are

seeking to expand their global reach.