As concerns loom over potential immigration policy changes from President-elect Donald Trump, a number of U.S. universities are recommending that international students who plan to travel overseas during their winter break return to campus before Inauguration Day on January 20.
Cornell University, Wesleyan University and MIT are among the schools that have issued travel advisories urging students and employees to avoid extended overseas stays during their holiday, due to concerns that Trump could issue executive orders blocking them from returning.
“A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration,” reads a notice on the Cornell website. “The ban is likely to include citizens of the countries targeted in the first Trump administration: Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Sudan, Tanzania, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Somalia. New countries could be added to this list, particularly China and India.”
“It is a good idea for international students, faculty, and staff from the above countries to be back in the U.S. in advance of the semester, which begins on January 21, 2025,” the website advises.
Proactive Caution Amid Uncertainty
These recommendations arise from fears of a repeat of the travel ban enacted during Trump’s first term in 2017. That executive order, which was signed just a week after his inauguration, barred travelers from a number of countries that are predominantly Muslim, as well as a few others, disrupting the lives of international students and scholars.
Wesleyan University advised its international students to be physically in the U.S. by January 19 to minimize potential travel disruptions, according to media reports.
“If you are planning to travel internationally over winter break, we strongly recommend that you re-enter the U.S. and return to campus by Sunday, January 19, 2025,” reads a letter to students from leadership of the university’s Office of International Student Affairs.
“With the presidential inauguration happening on Monday, January 20, 2025, and uncertainties around President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for immigration-related policy, the safest way to avoid difficulty re-entering the country is to be physically present in the U.S. on January 19th and the days thereafter of the spring semester,” the letter continues.
MIT, too, echoed these concerns in a message on its website to the school’s international student community, urging caution amid policy uncertainty. The school also warned that executive orders could lead to delays at U.S. embassies and consulates, potentially impacting students applying for new entry visas.
“Assess your travel plans over the Winter Break,” the university’s website suggests. “As mentioned, the new administration will be sworn in on January 20, 2025, and new Executive Orders that may impact travel and visa processing may be implemented on or after that date. In addition, election transitions also impact staffing levels at U.S. Embassies/Consulates abroad, which could impact entry visa processing times.”
With international students in the U.S. at a peak, stakes are high
Trump’s return to office comes at a critical time for international higher education. In the 2023-2024 academic year, U.S. higher education institutions hosted 1,126,690 international students in 2023-2024, the highest number recorded by the Institute of International Education (IIE). According to IIE’s Open Doors report, this represents a 7% year-on-year rise in international students, continuing a steady growth, post-pandemic.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, these international students contributed $50 billion to the U.S. economy during this period, primarily through tuition fees and living expenses. Universities are eager to recruit international students as they pay out-of-state tuition fees at public universities and generally do not qualify for financial aid.
Also, for the first time since 2009, India surpassed China as the largest source country of international students to the U.S., with 331,602 students, a significant 23% increase over the previous year. The number of students from India to colleges and universities in the U.S. has nearly doubled since the pandemic.
The number of students from China to the U.S. fell 4% to 277,398 in 2023-2024. Despite that decline, India and China together account for 54% of all international students in the U.S. As a result, any travel bans restricting student mobility from these two countries could prove to be a huge financial challenge for colleges and universities with large international student populations.