Nigerian interest pivots from the U.S. to China and Europe following travel ban

China is benefitting from the Nigerian travel ban as international students look east in place of U.S. study opportunities. 

Keystone Education Group data reveals search interest in the U.S. from Nigerian audiences dropped immediately following the announcement on December 16th and is now down by more than 50% compared to a highpoint in August. 

Nigerian students are now turning their attention to European destinations, with France and Italy seeing search growth of 40% and 33% respectively.  

China has experienced a 17% boost in interest from Nigerian students, in data collected by Keystone from December 17th to January 11th.  

Dr. Mark Bennett, VP of Research & Insight at Keystone Education Group, commented: 

“We continue to see audiences responding very quickly to actions and announcements from the U.S. Government and Nigeria is no exception.” 

“Whilst a lot of the focus during the latter part of 2025 has been on India and the impact of H-1B visa changes, this latest change shifts attention to pre-study and the fundamentals of being able to travel to the U.S. as a student.” 

“We now see Nigerian audiences turning away from a U.S. education system they can no longer enter under this ban.” 

Keystone data also reveals growth for Big 4 competitors, including Australia (21%), the UK (5%) and Canada (2%). 

Dr. Bennett added: “These announcements don’t discourage Nigerians from studying abroad, but they will prompt them to look for opportunities elsewhere. Crucially, that doesn’t have to mean elsewhere in the Big 4.” 

Survey data gathered alongside these search trends reveals the wider shift in sentiment towards the U.S., with the proportion of students expressing low confidence in the ease of visa and entry requirements increasing by a third from 14% to 21% following the expanded travel ban. 

“Combining search and survey data reveals the wider impact of these changes beyond the most immediately affected audiences, with confidence dropping for all audiences as they become less certain of the U.S.’s position on international study” - Dr. Bennett adds.