Latest Updates
- Update on SEVIS Terminations: Starting on or around April 24, 2025, NAFSA has been seeing reports from DSOs and attorneys of SEVIS records that had been terminated by DHS being restored to Active SEVIS status. Politico reports that the Department of Justice announced that all of the recent SEVIS terminations would be reversed. See Trump Administration reverses abrupt terminations of foreign students' U.S. visa registrations, Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, Politico, April 25, 2025. Please keep checking your Terminated Status Students (past 18 months) list available in SEVIS to monitor this at your institution. Stay up to date on the SEVIS terminations issue on NAFSA's page.
- New SEVIS Release Removes Gender Language and Functionality. SEVIS Release 6.82.1 is scheduled to be implemented on the evening of April 25, 2025. In the new release: "All SEVIS data fields labeled Gender will be changed to Sex" and "The ‘Other’ option will no longer be available for the Sex data field when creating or updating an Initial F/M student, Exchange Visitor (EV), and dependent SEVIS record. If an EV’s Sex is ‘Other,’ it must be changed if changes are made on the Biographical Information page." See the SEVIS Release 6.82.1 Planning Guide.
- New Executive Orders. On April 23, 2025 President Trump signed the following executive orders relevant to higher education:
- Executive Order 14279 of April 23, 2025: Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education. EO on whitehouse.gov | EO 14279 published at 90 FR 17529 (April 28, 2025). This Executive ORder directs the Department of Education to reform the higher education accreditation system by holding accrediting bodies accountable for focusing on academic quality and student outcomes rather than DEI initiatives, while prohibiting accreditation standards that could lead to unlawful discrimination as understood by the Trump-Vance administration. The order calls for increased competition among accreditors, streamlined processes for institutions to change accreditors, and mandates that institutions use program-level student outcome data for improvement, with potential consequences for accreditors of law and medical schools whose standards are deemed in violation of federal law.
- Executive Order 14282 of April 23, 2025: Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities. EO on whitehouse.gov | EO 14282 published at 90 FR 17541 (April 28, 2025). This Executive Order reinstates and tightens enforcement of higher education institutions' obligation to disclose foreign funding sources under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. The Department of Education will require more specific reporting details, increase public access to this information, and coordinate with the Attorney General to audit institutions, with potential consequences including ineligibility for federal grant funding.
- Executive Order 14283 of April 23, 2025: White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. EO on whitehouse.gov | EO 14283 published at 90 FR 17543 (April 28, 2025). This Executive Order establishes a White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) housed in the Executive Office of the President and creates a President's Board of Advisors to enhance HBCU capabilities through private-sector partnerships, philanthropic support, and federal coordination. Higher education institutions classified as HBCUs can expect increased focus on institutional planning, infrastructure upgrades, professional development opportunities, and implementation of the HBCU PARTNERS Act, with an annual White House Summit to address related matters.
- DOS Plans Comprehensive Reorganization. In an April 22, 2025 press statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced "a comprehensive reorganization plan" for the Department of State (DOS) that Rubio says will be implemented "methodically over the next several months." See NAFSA's page.
- SEVIS Record Termination Litigation. Numerous lawsuits challenging recent SEVIS record terminations are being filed across the United States. Many have resulted in courts issuing temporary restraining orders. See a sample of cases already filed for an idea of the scope and issues being litigated. April 20, 2025. See NAFSA's page.
- House Committee Sends Letters to Several Universities Requesting Detailed Information on Chinese Students. A House committee sent letters to six U.S. University presidents asking for written responses to numerous questions regarding demographics, funding sources, research activities, security protocols, and post-graduation trajectories of Chinese national students, particularly in STEM fields, with an emphasis on affiliations with Chinese entities, federally funded research, and potential national security concerns. See NAFSA's page.
Key Executive and Regulatory Actions
Government Funding, Staffing, and Operations
Funding that had been largely frozen since mid-February has since flowed to State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs programs as a new payment process within the department seems to be coalescing and a cadence of payments is developing. However, organizations need confidence that this payment process will continue to work and that they can count on future funding.
Antisemitism Related
An April 9 DHS news release says that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services "will consider social media content that indicates an alien endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary analysis when adjudicating immigration benefit requests. This guidance is effective immediately."
Vetting and Enforcement
As of April 17, there have been approximately 1,400 reports of international students and scholars either having their visa revoked and/or their record in SEVIS terminated, thereby jeopardizing their legal status in the United States.
NAFSA Statements and Commentary
NAFSA Responds to State Department Reorganization
"We were encouraged to see that the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) was retained in the State Department reorganization, along with other offices that foster strategic U.S. engagement at the regional level. We remain concerned, however, about the future staffing and funding of the programs within them," said Fanta Aw, NAFSA executive director and CEO in a statement.
Congress Urged to Intervene on Behalf of International Students
NAFSA released initial findings from its collection of field reports on visa revocations and termination of SEVIS records and, with its partners in U.S. for Success Coalition, urged Congress to intervene as a matter of national interest.
NAFSA Seeks Clarity on International Student Actions
On April 4, NAFSA, the American Council on Education, and 14 other higher education associations pressed the Departments of State and Homeland Security for more clarity and communication regarding visa revocations, SEVIS record terminations, and the detention and removal of international students and scholars.
Related Resources
2025 Policy Digest
A chronological compilation of U.S. government policy and regulatory developments and related advocacy activities, updated on a monthly basis.
Connecting Our World
Connecting Our World is NAFSA's weekly newsletter that distills the top policy and regulatory developments affecting international education and identifies how members of the field can use their voice to take action in simple but meaningful ways.
Helpful Resources
Helpful resources from NAFSA and others on initiatives under the Second Trump Administration