The Trump administration announced new rules for international students in American universities. These rules target both undocumented students and students with legal visas. About 500,000 undocumented immigrants currently attend colleges in the United States. Another one million foreign students hold legal student visas.
Court Ends Cheap Tuition For Undocumented Students
For years, some states let undocumented students pay cheap in-state tuition. Texas was one of these states. At the same time, American citizens from other states paid much higher tuition rates. This tuition gap often cost American families an extra $100,000 over four years. That’s a lot of money.
This month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit made a major decision. The judges voted 2 to 1 to support a deal between Texas and the federal government. Under this agreement, Texas colleges will stop giving low in-state tuition rates to undocumented students. This ruling ends a long court fight that began in July 2023.
New Visa Expiration Rules For Foreign Students
The federal government also changed rules for F-1 student visas. Previously, the government let foreign students stay in the country as long as they remained enrolled. This policy had no official time limit. Some graduate students stayed for many years to finish their degrees. It became a lifetime loophole.
Now, the Department of Homeland Security requires a fixed expiration date for most new F-1 visas. These visas will now expire after four years. The change means students must finish their programs on time or apply for extensions.
Universities already report a drop in international graduate student applications. College administrators blame federal grant freezes and travel limits for this decline. At the same time, high school graduation rates in the country fall because of lower birth rates. Colleges must now find new ways to recruit American students to fill these open spots.
