ACE joined seven other organizations in issuing a statement today urging the federal government to engage in efforts, in coordination with the higher education community, to return international student enrollment to pre-pandemic numbers and support policies that encourage international students and exchanges.
The statement, released at the beginning of International Education week, calls for the federal government to engage with the higher education community, as well as develop and implement a national strategy to increase the number of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities to the 2015 high-water mark of more than 1 million.
Following the Biden administration announcement that the U.S. travel policy would change to allow foreign visitors who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter the country beginning Nov. 8, ACE and other associations called onthe administration to make the new policy flexible enough to accommodate students and scholars from countries where the vaccine is not widely available.
In a subsequent proclamation, the Biden administration announced that non-immigrant visa holders, such as students and scholars, traveling from countries with a vaccination rate of less than 10 percent, would be allowed to enter the U.S. and could demonstrate that they would be vaccinated within 60 days.
In addition, the State Department announced last month that it has authorized consular officers through the end of 2021 to expand the categories of F, M, and “academic J visa applicants” (students, professors, research scholars, short-term scholars, or specialists), whose applications can be adjudicated without an in-person interview.
We appreciate the recognition that it is in our national interest to be the destination of choice for talented international students and scholars, as we requested in a letterin March.
Compliance & Ethics