China News Service, July 8 (Xinhua). According to a report by the Chinese website of the United States, a recent in-depth report in the Wall Street Journal said that the latest US government visa regulations for international students have put US universities in trouble. According to this policy issued by the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau, if the university chooses to conduct fully online courses this fall, international students at the school will not be allowed to enter or remain in the United States.
In addition to dismaying the majority of international students, the news also expressed surprise at various American universities and colleges. After that, the government quickly issued guidance to allow international students who have already stayed on campus to stay in the United States, even if they participate in online courses.
Generally, international students are not allowed to participate in more than one online course every semester. This requirement is to ensure that students will not participate in some informal academic programs, so as to use student visas to maintain legal immigration status in the United States.
Now, schools are scrambling to adjust their teaching plans, and some schools have publicly stated that they will help their international students. The University of Texas at El Paso announced on Monday evening that it will provide a mixture of face-to-face and online courses. It will work with more than 1,400 international students "to make their course arrangements meet federal requirements," and they can continue to submit degrees Direction development.
Losing international students at the university will mean losing critical income because many of them pay full tuition. This is a particularly worrying prospect because schools are already facing large-scale budget tightening related to the epidemic.
International students account for 15% or more than 20% of the enrollment of some universities, and account for a larger share of tuition income.
Columbia University said on the 7th that it will mainly invite first-year and second-year undergraduates to return to campus this fall to ensure the social separation distance. If it is necessary to maintain a low-density environment in spring, then most third- and fourth-year students will be invited Back to campus. Almost all courses will have an online option, and some courses also allow face-to-face teaching.
Columbia Principal Lee Carroll Bullinger said the school will try mixed courses to facilitate international students. "We hope that our international students can complete their studies here, if possible," he said.
In a note to the university community, Bullinger called on students and faculty members to "strongly oppose" immigration policies, which he said are harming schools, including Monday's new regulations and a series of recent restrictions.
He wrote: "We are no stranger to the destructive and untenable purpose of promoting these policies, and the damage to academic institutions nationwide is too familiar."
Many international students choose to stay in the United States when the school closes in the spring. Many of them are prohibited from returning to their home countries due to travel restrictions, and others who have left are now prevented from returning due to travel restrictions.
Some people, especially new students, have no time to arrive in the United States during the fall semester because the US consulate in their country is still closed and they cannot get their visas in time.
Fully online courses will actually benefit students stranded abroad, who can maintain student visa status by taking classes from their own country. If the school adopts a mixed teaching model, these students will have to participate in person.
In the 2018-2019 school year, there are nearly 1.1 million foreign university students in the United States, including students who still hold a student visa after graduation. About one-third comes from China. Universities do not necessarily know which of their international students are currently in the United States.
Cai Markham was a senior at Princeton University, and he flew home when the school closed in March. He has planned to come back to finish the last year, and even has a loan to pay one year's rent, but he is now worried that he will not be able to return to the United States under the continued travel restrictions.
Markham said: "Missing my last year without saying goodbye to my friends makes me sad. I hope I will know what my campus life will look like next year as soon as possible, but things have become unpredictable Now."