Trump Administration Rescinds 'cruel' policy toward international students

Today the Trump Administration announced that it will rescind a policy announced last week that would have barred international students from living in the United States had their college or university moved to an exclusively online format for the 2020-2021 academic year. The policy reversal was announced during arguments before a judge over a lawsuit filed jointly by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology against the rule. The College Board signed an amicus brief in support of the Harvard and MIT lawsuit. Last week, College Board CEO David Coleman and American Council on Education President Ted Mitchell called on the Administration to reverse course. Below is a response from the College Board to Tuesday’s announcement:

The proposed policy was cruel to international students and deeply counterproductive for higher education and for our country – we are pleased it has been rescinded. International students play a critical role in our education system, driving educational and research contributions that make U.S. higher education the envy of the world. Some one million international students attend U.S. colleges and universities annually, yielding an estimated economic impact of $41 billion and supporting more than 450,000 U.S. jobs.