Really, the purpose of a visa is you do your thing, be it work or school, and then leave when it is over. You aren’t just supposed to stick around and stick around and stick around, then bring your whole family over
International students weigh futures in US amid Trump’s visa, immigration crackdown
International students at GW said they are reconsidering whether to remain in the United States after graduation or pursue educational and career opportunities abroad as President Donald Trump continues to tighten immigration policies.
Students said uncertainty surrounding post-graduation work authorization and stricter visa requirements have prompted them to rethink plans to build careers in the United States, pursue graduate degrees abroad or finish their undergraduate degrees at GW. The hesitation comes as GW faces declining international student enrollment in the wake of Trump’s continued visa and immigration restrictions, including a new policy threatening international students’ employment opportunities.
Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has made it more difficult for international students to study in the United States by enacting policies like a travel ban impacting international student applications from 38 countries and Department of Homeland Security rules shortening the time frame that international students can stay in the United States for their education.
This is the way it is supposed to be. They don’t just get to decide on their own that the US is going to let them stay to build their careers. You graduate and then you return to your home country (or another country) and then re-apply for a visa. Which shouldn’t be a career. It should be a time period for said visa and then you leave. What the US has been doing though is constantly approving extension after extension for visas. And, yes, then they bring over the rest of their families, and demand voting rights, free stuff, and citizenship.
This is how you get problems like Mahmoud Khalil, who came over with a student visa, immediately started being an anti-Israel/Jew protester at Columbia, graduated, but, never left, and the leftist judges just let him stay.
This month, the Trump administration proposed a rule requiring universities to pay a $70,000 fee for each student’s initial application to the optional practice training program, which allows students to work in jobs in their field during or after their studies. The fee is in addition to last year’s proposed $100,000 fee employers would have to pay for each new H-1B visa, which federal courts struck down in October.
Yeah, that’s not going to fly, either. Maybe there should be some sort of deposit, depending on a student’s income status, that would be void if they refuse to leave when their visa is over. Plus, I’ve always maintained that the schools and companies that host legal aliens on visas should be held responsible for over-stays.
The Hatchet spoke to five international students, all of whom requested anonymity over fears their visa could be at risk or of deportation. All five described uncertainty about their futures in the United States, with some considering graduate school or employment abroad and others questioning whether GW had adequately supported them through changes to immigration policies.
They aren’t supposed to have futures, unless they go through the whole citizenship process, if approved to try it.
University President Ellen Granberg said during a September Faculty Senate meeting that GW enrolled nearly 1,000 fewer international students this year — a number she said she anticipates to continue declining over the coming years. Vice President and Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Success Jay Goff told the Faculty Senate in December that GW enrolled 392 fewer international students in fall 2025 than in 2024, which came after he said in August 2025 the University could face a $10 million decrease in revenue because of declining international student enrollment.
And that’s why schools do not like Trump’s rules: money. They can get a lot more out of international students than Americans. Meaning lots of Americans, including those in-state, are not considered. Skipping all the way to the last paragraph
“For decades, this experiential education program has served as a critical pipeline of international talent for the U.S. economy—especially in STEM fields where there is a worker shortage—and as an essential component of a U.S. higher education for international students,” Stewart said in an email.
But, let’s be honest: a goodly chunk of these foreign students are doing STEM, while so many of today’s Yutes are getting degrees in things that end with Studies, or might as well end with Studies, which are virtually worthless.
Universities love international students, because they wind up paying full fare, rather than needing scholarships and financial aid.
Foreign governments aren’t going to pay for students taking Gender Studies; they will pay for engineering students. Foreign governments are willing to pay for education in things their countries will find useful. Even foreign students from wealthy families tend to concentrate on the fields than made their families wealthy. Of course, if they can knock up and then dump a pretty white coed, that’s just icing on the cake.
The law allows them to stay beyond graduation some 18 months for further practical experience. They to go home after that, and apply for a residency visa, if they want to immigrate.
In general, training foreign students is good for the US, because it helps build pro-American sentiment in their home countries. As immigrants, we benefit by getting new people who are highly educated and intelligent. Note that the majority of foreign students are in STEM. About a third of our STEM graduate students are Chinese.
Right now, the University of Kentucky and the city of Lexington are pointing fingers at each other over housing. UK has almost twice as many students as it did when I went there, back in the days of quill pens and inkwells, and Lexington as a city has metastasized as well, having grown from 220,000 when I left in 1984, to 335,000 now. Lexington also fights to restrict outward growth, to protect the horse farms, so the only place to grow is up, not out. Some old student neighborhoods, of century old homes, have been torn down to build multi-story apartment buildings meant for students.
One thing UK could do is simply get rid of the more worthless departments and concentrate on STEM, to reduce the number of students, but they won’t do that, so UK’s contribution to the problems will continue to grow.
@Dana,
People who want an easy degree are never going to change into a STEM field with any kind of math required. They will go to a different school instead. Even if they have to go out of state. Lazy people don’t suddenly become motivated to achieve. Every university want to keep their enrollment up so university staff can live well. If the market demands easy (worthless) degrees, the universities will offer them.
One way to fix it would be to end federal backing of student loans. Return to the system of the lenders deciding if the degree and location are a worthy risk instead of letting an 18 year old decide, with the full faith an credit of the United States government behind them.
For one of my degrees, at the time, there were only 5 schools in the country that were considered acceptable to teach it. If I wanted that skill set, I had to go to one of those schools.
About 40% of all Phds given are given to non ID citizens.
Teach apparently thinks that my country already has too many smart people.
2bmillion degrees are given annually. By Colleges. 2000 are given in gender studies
50% of those receiving degrees as gender studies majors are double majors. The most common double majors are premed. Sociology and sociology only 200 colleges out of 4000 even offer degrees in gender studies
Political science? Is that another degree with limited professional opportunities?
Quills and pens? Oh yeah I remember when they came out. At Tufts in the mid 70s we were still using clay tiles.Valculus had just been invented
Dana philosophy grads have lower unemployment rates than STEM majors
Look it up
As Dana points out, accepting foreign students is just another form of trade, as long as the students go home. It doesn’t matter what they studied.
It is worth noting that every state has a version of consumer protection department and the feds look after interstate wire fraud. It seems like a whole bunch of colleges and universities could be prosecuted for offering worthless degrees without a warning label. The future earning potential of each degree can be known. Those with no return on investment (like Philosophy, literature, art history, and archaeology, as well as “studies”) should be categorized as a hobby and receive no student aid. Pay for your own hobbies.
It is the gor profit colleges that have the most delinquent rates of student loan delinquency and they are much more apt to have in the past made contributions to Republican congressmen
Of course at least 1 reason for student loan defaults is the shitty Trump economy especially for new grads.
25 to 40% of rece t STEM grads get a job in that within 6 months of graduation
Opinions count less than data
Philosophy majors earn more st mid career and st peak earnings than any other humanity major
Modern philosophy is less about Greeks and Romans and more about logic and ethics and morality
The university is not a trade school. Most professions, e.g., physicians, attorneys, scientists, dentists, veterinarians, professors, nurses, engineers, architects, pharmacists, psychologists, many teachers, managers, consultants, counselors, therapists, progammers and administrators need advanced degrees.
Objectives of university…
• Critical Thinking: Teaching students how to analyze complex information, question assumptions, evaluate evidence, and solve problems rather than just memorizing facts.
• Mastery of Learning: Equipping individuals with the skills to learn independently, adapt to new concepts, and think across multiple disciplines.
• Effective Communication: Enhancing the ability to articulate ideas clearly through both written and spoken language.
• Self-Discovery: Offering a structured environment for young adults to transition into responsible independence, explore diverse viewpoints, and build resilience.
• Character and Ethics: Fostering moral reasoning, self-discipline, and a long-term sense of personal purpose beyond individual gain.
• Social Networks: Connecting students with peers, mentors, faculty, and alumni to form lifelong personal and professional communities
• Providing formal training, technical mastery, and credentials required for competitive modern industries.
• Transferable Skills: Building practical habits such as time management, collaboration, digital literacy, and project management.
• Higher Earning Potential: Improving long-term financial stability, career advancement opportunities, and resilience during economic downturns.
____________________________-
One of these… “Critical Thinking: Teaching students how to analyze complex information, question assumptions, evaluate evidence, and solve problems…” is why MAGAts hate higher education.
St my school CUNY 85% of all students graduate with zero debt
Tuition is 5400 dollars.
Professor did you even bother to try and verify your statement that philosophy degrees are worthless?
Or is this just something you know because you are so smart?
I always check myself. Do you ever do that?
Or are you like Trump vs just go by gut instinct?
As I told you before the major that scores the highest on GREs is philosophy.
Only 0.4% of all 1.7 million degrees given annually are awarded in philosophers.
I am afraid that you are going to be given my Dunning Kruger October Award.