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‘Losing an entire generation of scientific talent’: top US universities accepted 15% fewer PhDs

By 2026-07-20T09:07:00

A group of young male and female scientific researchers in a lab and wearing lab coats and safety glasses gather around to discuss something on a computer tablet.

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Analysis of 55 research unis also reveals a 21% decline in applications from foreign students to US doctoral programmes for the coming year

Prominent research universities throughout the US admitted 15% fewer applicants to their PhD programmes for the upcoming 2026 academic year, compared with last year. The Association of American Universities (AAU) suggests this trend can be linked to the Trump administration’s action.