California State University’s fall 2025 headcount ticked up 4,000 students compared with this time last year, thanks to in-state student increases that outpaced a smaller drop in out-of-state and international enrollment, preliminary data released by the system show.
That growth amounts to less than a percentage point increase at CSU, bringing the total across the 22-campus system to about 465,000 students.
The preliminary figures are welcome news after a significant enrollment downturn following the COVID-19 pandemic. But concerns remain that the Trump administration’s immigration policies may stifle international enrollment or discourage undocumented or mixed-status students from applying for financial aid and going to college.
CSU reported a roughly 1,300-student decrease in out-of-state headcount. A CSU spokesperson said data on international student enrollment were not yet available.
An analysis released by NAFSA, the association of international educators, predicts a 30% to 40% decline in new international student enrollment across the U.S. because of a previous pause in visa interviews by the Trump administration and other trends that might keep away foreign applicants. The California Student Aid Commission reported in June that financial aid applications for mixed immigration status and undocumented high school seniors were down in the 2025-26 cycle.
Despite those headwinds, the early data suggest that total headcount CSU-wide has continued a slow recovery from the pandemic even as it remains below its 2020 peak. The system’s overall progress masks an uneven enrollment pattern around CSU, as some of the state universities expanded their student bodies over the last decade while other campuses shrank.
CSU expects to release final fall 2025 enrollment data in October. A full accounting of campus-by-campus figures typically comes later in the term.
CSU credited part of this year’s overall increase to a Riverside County pilot program, in which the university system alerted qualifying high school students that they had been automatically admitted to attend their choice of 10 CSUs. The pilot gave first-year enrollment from Riverside County high schools a 6% boost compared with 2024, according to CSU.
The university system also reported increases among California residents, up by more than 5,300, and undergraduate transfer students, up by more than 1,000.
DiPierro is a reporter for EdSource, a nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism organization covering education in California.
