(Excerpts from Higher Ed Dive)

• Federal agencies have extended and clarified flexibilities for international students attending U.S. colleges during the 2021-22 academic year. 
• The U.S. Department of State also recently pulled back travel restrictionsfor students and academics coming to U.S. campuses this fall from several countries, including China and India, the two biggest sources of international students. 
• Higher education experts say the decisions will allow students and schools to plan for the upcoming academic year, but they caution that visa processing backlogs could be a hurdle.
• The pandemic is dealing a blow to international student enrollment. The number of foreign students studying at U.S. colleges fell 16% last fall, with a 43% drop among new students, according to a survey of more than 700 schools from the Institute of International Education. This followed the first decrease in the total number of international students in the U.S. in more than a decade, IIE found.