Dear Unnamed,
Is it me? Or is there a lot going on. Here’s what we’re tracking since I last wrote.
The U.S. higher education community is still reeling from the letter the White House sent to nine public and private universities on October 1, urging them to sign a 10-page compact that would, among other things, force them to cap their enrollment of international students. Those that sign would get priority access to federal funds and looser restraints on overhead costs. Letters were sent to University of Arizona, Brown University, Dartmouth College, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, Vanderbilt University, and University of Virginia. The response from these institutions has been mixed.
On the Duration of Status front, we’ve learned that 16 states attorneys general submitted a comment letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in support of maintaining Duration of Status.
Regarding H-1B visa changes, a coalition of labor unions, health care providers, schools, and religious organizations filed a lawsuit on October 3 against the September 19 proclamation establishing a $100,000 H-1B visa fee. The American Immigration Lawyers Association is circulating two resources related to the DHS proposed rule that would create a weighted H-1B lottery. The first is a sign-on comment (deadline is Monday at 12 pm ET) that seeks an extension of the 30-day comment period for a total of 60 days, and the second is a customizable comment letter template for individuals or institutions to submit a comment on the proposal itself.
In the good news category, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial noting that six of the U.S. Nobel Prize winners in science this year are immigrants and that immigrants have been awarded 40 percent of the Nobel Prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine, and physics since 2000. Especially heartwarming is the story of Omar Yaghi, this year’s U.S. Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, who was born into a refugee family in Jordan, traveled alone to America as a teenager, and worked his way from an international student at a community college to earning a B.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry at U.S. universities before becoming a faculty member at prestigious universities and winning the Nobel Prize. Read more in this Forbes piece, Half of the 2025 U.S. Nobel Prize Winners in Science Are Immigrants, by Stuart Anderson.
In the bad news department, the federal government shutdown drags on, with no resolution coming into view so far. The House continues to remain in recess (however, House Democrats just announced plans to return to D.C. next Tuesday) while the Senate is scheduled to return Tuesday afternoon. On Friday, Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, announced the start of federal government layoffs.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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Encourage your institution to participate in the Global Enrollment Benchmark Survey, created by NAFSA, Studyportals, and Oxford Test of English. This survey will be an important complement to the IIE Fall Snapshot Survey as it is open to institutions from all over the globe. Institutions that participate will receive a benchmark report tailored to their institution. Do your part to make sure it is as comprehensive as possible!
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Register for the October 28 Peer to Peer Perspective, “From Congress to Campus: Effective Advocacy Tactics in International Education.” An encore presentation of a session at the 2025 NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo, this virtual presentation will explore effective "Big A advocacy,” which focuses on government and policy-level initiatives, and "small A advocacy” which highlights localized efforts within institutions and communities.
Thanks for reading.
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
