Dear Erica,
Greetings from Washington, D.C., where NAFSA staff are busily preparing for our annual conference in San Diego starting on May 27. I hope to see many of you there! Please come by the advocacy center in the NAFSA Pavilion (look for the giant globe hanging from the ceiling) within the Expo Hall to connect with other attendees, NAFSA staff, and fellow advocates. As usual, there is some very solid advocacy related programming—browse by session track in our online planner using the “advocacy” term to see what I mean.
New this week is an open letter from 53 higher education related organizations, including NAFSA, decrying recent government actions that threaten the long-standing, fruitful partnership between higher ed and government and calling upon the administration to reforge this historic compact.
In case you missed it last week, the storm clouds around congressionally- authorized international education programs are growing, casting doubt on the survival of these programs. The latest blow came last week with the news that the Department of Education has withdrawn all applications for the Fulbright-Hays fellowships for Fiscal Year 2025--ostensibly for a “comprehensive review”--which effectively cancels the program. That makes now is an incredibly important time to demonstrate to Congress that this program—and other federal investments in IE have considerable and consistent support. Take a minute to affirm the value of Department of State and Education IE programs.
As I shared last week, some federal judges have ordered that some SEVIS records be reactivated and they have been—though some have been re-terminated for unclear reasons. NAFSA is asking for the field to report when this occurs to understand the scope and to inform NAFSA’s advocacy. We have since published a dashboard that is updated in real-time to display these field reports.
Also making waves is the news that SEVP has sent letters to F-1 students who have “been participating in Optional Practical Training (OPT) for more than 90 days but have not reported any employer information,” telling them that if they do not update their SEVIS record with employer information within 15 days, SEVP will set their SEVIS record to terminated. The language of these notices is exactly the same as what was used in 2020 during the first Trump administration and SEVP has long maintained that they can notify students of this possibility. It is yet another example of how this administration is pursuing extreme vetting and utilizing pre-existing authorities to maximum effect. See NAFSA’s website for more information.
We’ve seen some encouraging signs lately that more members of Congress are willing to publicly support international students. On the heels of the Senator Dick Durbin-led letter in the Senate, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) led a group of 142 House members in demanding answers to the revocation of student visas and SEVIS record terminations. Check to see if your representative signed on and if so, send them a message of thanks. Rep. LaMonica McIver (NJ-10) was vocal in her support of international students during a Department of Homeland Security budget hearing which was shared on Bluesky, and Rep. Mark Takano (CA-39) shared on Facebook an ABC News story that also quoted NAFSA CEO, Fanta Aw. Please amplify their messages with a supportive comment and/or share. We need to encourage more of this!
On the study abroad side, we have some good news! Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani has signed a decree exempting citizens from Group of Seven (G7) countries from the biometric fingerprinting requirement for Italian national visas for study. The Association of American College and University Programs in Italy has also confirmed that batch processing of visa applications will return, though U.S. consulates need time to reorganize their procedures for the fall student cohort.
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
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Urge your members of Congress to stand strong for federal international education and exchange programs! NEW: Democrats in the House will be asked to join a sign-on letter in support of the Fulbright-Hays and Title VI programs.
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Thank your representative for signing on to the Rep. Jayapal-led letter demanding answers from Secretaries of State and Homeland Security.
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Register for a May 20 webinar to hear leaders from NAFSA, Studyportals, and Oxford Test of English discuss the results and the implications of the Global Enrollment Benchmark Survey summary report released last week. They will explore changes in terms of enrollment numbers and student interest affecting the “Big Four” and the emergence of the “Big Ten."
- Download the report prepared by Intead in partnership with NAFSA which speaks to the contributions of international students to the U.S. economy and workforce after graduation—especially in critical STEM fields.
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Share NAFSA’s tool for tracking SEVIS record reactivations and re-terminations with your DSO/PDSO.
Phew! That's enough for one week!
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
