Virginia had over 21,000 international students in its colleges in universities last year, but recent actions from President Donald Trump may see that number change.
The fight over international students in U.S. colleges started last month when Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his office would move to revoke Chinese student visas from Harvard University over national security concerns. Then, Rubio announced increased vetting of all foreign students' social media accounts. And this week the president's new travel bans from 12 countries went into effect and also applies to would-be students.
Some of these issues are winding through the courts, but immigration visa attorney Keith Pabian said it will disrupt US colleges.
“The more you turn on your TV and see an ICE action in your local community," Pabian told Radio IQ. "Employers or schools turn around and go ‘where is everybody?’ It might not be an immediate impact, but I think over the next 4 years it's going to keep impounding itself and it’s going to turn into a nightmare.”
Pabian said a backlog of applications could see students waiting much longer to get a visa, leading them and their tuition money to other countries’ programs.
According to the Association of International Educators, international students contributed over $800 million dollars to Virginia colleges in 2023 and over $43 billion nationally.
Mark Owczarski is the chief spokesperson for Virginia Tech where international students contributed over $176 million. He said Tech is working with individual students as issues arise, but he said it was important international students return to campus next year.
“They bring new, different perspectives to a common problem and challenge," Owczarski said. "That perspective, that holistic perspective, is critical to solve these big problems.”
It’s unclear if any of Trump’s limits on international students will last. Thursday night, the President said his administration would allow Chinese students into the US as part of a new trade deal with China... “which has always been good with me,” he added
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
