Dear Erica,
[No spooky sentiments or word trickery in today’s issue. Reality is far too vivid for me to embellish upon right now!]
NAFSA’s outreach and advocacy on proposed regulations related to Duration of Status (D/S) and the H-1B visa continues. On October 27, NAFSA submitted a comment letter on the forms (information collection) component of the D/S proposed rule. We also joined 37 other organizations across science, education, and policy sectors in submitting a comment in opposition to eliminating D/S before that comment period ended on September 29.
NAFSA also lent its name and expertise to a multi-sector comment letter submitted on October 24 that pushed back against the proposed rule from USCIS to establish a weighted selection process for the H-1B lottery. The American Council on Education organized a similar letter that NAFSA signed, along with 19 other organizations. NAFSA’s major concern with this proposed rule is that a wage level lottery threatens a key pipeline for top talent that the United States can ill-afford to drive away. More information about these comment letters and others is available on NAFSA’s website.
USCIS also made waves this week when it published an interim final rule effective October 30, which eliminates automatic extensions of work permits for many immigrants. Although the rule went into effect on October 30, 2025, the day of publication in the Federal Register, DHS will accept public comments through December 1, 2025.
Recent media stories of note include a piece in Forbes, Trump’s Student Visa Crackdown Threatens U.S. Innovation which quotes NAFSA CEO Fanta Aw, and reporting by Higher Ed Dive that shows 70 percent of Americans oppose federal government intervention in college admissions, faculty hiring, and curriculum, per polling by the Public Religion Research Institute. A Quinnipiac poll reveals similar results.
These findings are in sharp contrast to the current administration’s initiatives to influence U.S. higher education institutions’ policies and practices, including a “compact” that would necessitate a cap on undergraduate international student enrollment at 15 percent. Drilling down into the Quinnipiac polling results along political party affiliation found that two-thirds of respondents who identified as Republican agreed with international student caps, compared with 17 percent of Democrats and 36 percent of independents.
These opinions are hard to square with recent research that points to the overwhelmingly positive effect international student enrollment has on domestic students and U.S. higher education. The latest is a National Bureau of Economic Research study that finds a boom in the undergraduate student population in China helped drive a U.S. boom in STEM master’s programs: every four additional Chinese master’s students in the U.S. were associated with one additional American master’s student, for example. The authors posit that a rise in Chinese students helps support the “broader U.S. academic ecosystem—potentially by generating additional tuition revenue and prompting universities to expand program offerings.” This PBS NewsHour piece, Brain Drain, is also really compelling.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Mark your calendar: NAFSA and JB International will release on November 17 its economic analysis of the economic contributions of international students in the United States during the 2024-25 academic year. We will also provide an update to our fall 2025 international student enrollment economic outlook first published back in July. That also marks the start of International Education Week which NAFSA and other partners in the sector have vowed to continue celebrating. If you know your organization or institution plans to celebrate, be sure to tag @NAFSA on social so we may amplify!
Maybe next week I’ll have something positive to say about the government shutdown. Until then, don’t eat too much candy corn! :)
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
