Major Changes for International Students if Schools Transition to Online Classes

Student Lounge International Students
1

Following [yesterday Harvard announcement](http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/2190771-just-in-harvard-will-hold-all-2020-2021-courses-online-tuition-stays-the-same.html), the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced modifications to temporary exemptions for non-immigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester.

As a consequence, as reported by @CCEdit_Torrey in the article below, “international students who planned to attend US colleges this fall were given a new threshold to cross by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement yesterday. If their classes will be operated entirely online this fall, those students will be prohibited from remaining in the US or traveling here on a student visa.”

Furthermore, “if students come back to the US for in-person classes this fall but the school later switches to online-only instruction, those students must either leave the US or transfer to a school that offers courses in person.”

https://insights.collegeconfidential.com/international-students-barred-from-online-us-colleges

2

This is probably a tactic to persuade colleges and unis to open “regularly” by the administration–to get things “back to normal.” The logic seems to be that unis value the minds of the talented students that come from abroad not just for how smart and creative they are but because they come loaded with money. Most foreign students are full pay. Many tuition-driven schools rely on foreign students to stay afloat. This is one way for the administration to leverage colleges and universities to open in a traditional way.

3

Schools like Boston University and Northeastern University that will allow all students to return to campus with the option to take all courses remotely are claiming that this format may be a way around this restriction. There will be no record of whether the student is on campus or remote.