U.S. colleges face a deepening enrollment shock: F‑1 student‑visa issuances during May–August 2025 plunged 36%, a Chronicle analysis found, wiping out roughly 97,000 summer visa issuances and undermining fall enrollments. The decline followed a near‑month‑long freeze on scheduling visa interviews and high‑profile visa cancellations that alarmed prospective international students. Against that backdrop, the Education Department offered a conditional extension on an institutional admissions survey deadline. The department’s announcement buys time for campuses to reconcile applications and enrollment counts but attached conditions that could affect compliance and reporting timelines. Colleges have already cited the international drop as a driver of budgetary strain, especially for masters and STEM doctoral programs that rely on foreign tuition. Proposed federal rules on visa duration and anticipated changes to post‑graduation work authorization further complicate recruitment and admissions planning for the coming academic year.