The figures come from EnglishUSA and BONARD’s brand-new yearly report of America’s ELT sector, revealing a near-20% drop in trainee weeks last year, with companies mentioning challenging domestic policy developments and visa barriers over the previous two years.
“A 14% drop in trainees is considerable, however what’s a lot more concerning is that trainees are also remaining for much shorter periods,” EnglishUSA executive director Cheryl Delk-Le Good informed The PIE News.
She alerted the drops would affect tuition revenue, staffing, and the long-lasting sustainability of lots of service providers, 227 of whom were surveyed for the report.
“English language programs are often the front door to US college, so when they have a hard time, the impact extends well beyond the programs themselves,” stated Delk-Le Good.
Along with rising global competitors, the report lays bare the challenging operating environment in the US, with more than two-thirds of participants mentioning domestic political and economic instability as a difficulty.
Somewhere else, student visa rejections were mentioned by 58% of companies, and almost half (48%) said low enrolments affecting spending plans was a “major issue”.
If unpredictability continues to dissuade trainees from selecting the United States, the effect won’t be limited to English language programs
Cheryl Delk Le Good, EnglishUSA
Delk-Le Good stated there was a risk of declines aggravating in 2026, with programs reporting that trainees are “progressively concerned about visa timelines, altering policies, and whether they’ll have the ability to continue to a degree program as prepared”.
As trainee numbers have fallen, so too have economic contributions. The report found students enrolled at participating English language programs created an approximated $870 million in direct economic spending, down from $950m in 2024.
When extrapolated to include all ELPs throughout the United States, the total direct contribution is approximated to have actually exceeded $1.4 bn in 2015, with Delk-Le Good repeating the potential damages to college, regional services and communities across the United States if unpredictability dominates.
Among trainees at US service providers, the typical course duration dropped from 12.8 to 10.4 weeks — a pattern seen across the globe with many ELT destinations experiencing noteworthy drops in trainee weeks.
Based upon this length of stay, the typical general cost of an US English language program totaled up to $12,500 per trainee, approximated the report.
In terms of source nations, France was the largest sender of language students to the US for the very first time, followed by Brazil and China.
Japan, which topped the list in 2024, sent the 4th largest variety of trainees, followed by Italy in fifth. Japan’s fall mirrors the recent trend of Japanese students turning away from the United States and other Western nations, due to a weakened Yen, nationwide security concerns and immigration obstacles. As for host states, New york city welcomed the most English language students in 2025, followed by California and Florida which experienced drops of -16% and -20% respectively. Utah was the only top 10 host state to see a boost in trainees.