Washington, Aug 2026: The number of students from India applying for first-year undergraduate admission to US colleges through the Common Application declined by 15 per cent during the 2025-26 admissions cycle, marking a notable reversal after years of strong growth.

According to the Common App’s end-of-season report released on August 20, the platform recorded 14,424 applicants from India, down from approximately 16,900 in the previous admissions cycle. The decline has reduced India’s position relative to China, which continued to be the largest source of international applicants on the platform.

China recorded 18,435 applicants, representing a smaller decline of two per cent from the previous year. As a result, China now has 4,011 more applicants than India. The gap is significant considering that it had narrowed to around 1,000 during the 2023-24 admissions cycle, following years of rapid growth in applications from India and a longer-term decline in Chinese applications.

Common App did not provide a specific explanation for the fall in applications from India. The decline also contributed significantly to the broader reduction in applications from Asia, which remains the largest source region for international applicants outside the United States.

International applicants overall declined by 10 per cent during the latest cycle, while applications from Asia fell 11 per cent to 79,287. The Common App report specifically noted that the Asian decline was driven by the 15 per cent drop in applicants from India.

The trend contrasts with the overall growth recorded across the Common App network. A total of 1,527,328 first-year applicants used the platform during the 2025-26 cycle, representing a two per cent increase from 2024-25.

Those applicants submitted approximately 10.79 million applications to 1,146 participating institutions. The number of applications increased by six per cent, suggesting that students were applying to a larger number of colleges even as the overall applicant pool expanded at a slower pace.

On average, each applicant submitted 7.06 applications, compared with 6.79 in the previous admissions cycle.

India’s latest decline comes after a prolonged period of expansion in applications to US undergraduate programmes. Common App recorded around 7,900 first-year international applicants from India in 2016-17, compared with nearly 29,700 from China.

The number of Indian applicants increased gradually before accelerating sharply, reaching approximately 16,900 in 2021-22. It remained around that level for the following three cycles, placing India within striking distance of China as the leading international source of applicants on the platform.

The latest fall to 14,424 therefore represents a substantial reversal of some of those recent gains. China, meanwhile, has seen its applicant numbers decline considerably over the longer term, falling from nearly 29,700 in 2016-17 to 18,435 in the latest cycle.

A contrasting trend can be seen among students already residing in the United States. The number of domestic applicants identifying as having an Indian background increased by six per cent to 40,949.

That figure has more than doubled since 2016-17, when Common App recorded approximately 18,500 such applicants. Domestic applicants identifying as having a Chinese background also increased, though at a slower pace, rising one per cent to 26,296 during the latest cycle.

The figures highlight a clear divergence between students applying from India and those of Indian background already living in the United States. While applications from India declined, the number of US-based applicants identifying as Indian continued to rise.

Common App has cautioned that its data covers applicants to member institutions using the platform and does not represent every undergraduate applicant or university in the United States.

Despite the decline in Common App applications, India continues to be the largest source of international students in the US. The latest Open Doors data recorded 363,019 students from India during the 2024-25 academic year, an increase of 10 per cent from the previous year.

The contrasting figures suggest that while India's overall presence in US higher education remains strong, the latest undergraduate application data could signal a shift in demand among students seeking admission directly from India.