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.
Learn more: GMAC White Paper 'The Great Re-Routing of Global Business Talent'