International students stuck between coronavirus and limbo

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Sather Gate, the main entrance to the Unviveristy of California, Berkeley is eerily empty as the campus has closed down for the remainder of the school year.

International students are in a bind, stuck between a hard place and the coronavirus: Go home, or stay? If I stay, where will I live? If I go, will I be allowed to return to the US? Do online classes qualify for the F-1 visa requirements? 

The US is home to about 1.1 million international students, most of them from Asian countries. According to the 2019 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. International students make up 5.5 percent of the total U.S. higher education population.

For the tenth consecutive year, China remained the largest source of international students in the United States in 2018/19 with 369,548 students in undergraduate, graduate, non-degree, and optional practical training (OPT) programs, a 1.7 percent increase from 2017/18. India (202,014, +2.9 percent), South Korea (52,250, -4.2 percent), according to Institute of International Education.

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All of the schools with the largest international-student populations have moved their classes online, according to a Quartz analysis of the 36 universities that enroll a third of international students in the US. 

Despite the anti-China sentiment seeping through the Trump administration, China still provides the most students to the US with 368,800 students. Next comes India with 194,556 students, then South Korea with almost 60,000.

As of March 23, 72% of the universities told students to leave campus housing. The others left the choice to students. All universities say that they will help students who cannot return home stay on campus or find alternative housing.

While most universities and colleges leave the question of whether or not to stay in the US up to the individual student as a personal choice, some, like the UC Berkeley, University of Washington and University of Arizona advise their foreign students to stay because of the uncertain future the Trump administration's restrictive immigration policies.

UC Berkeley suggests that international students make up about 16.2% of the student body, or a total of 6,768 international students, graduate and undergraducate, on campus. Students from China number about 3,000, or about 7% of the entire student body. India and South Korea follow with about 700 and 550 students, respectively.

RETURNING HOME?

Some countries like China, where the coronavirus was first discovered, are discouraging the students' returning. Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of Beijing’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a recent press conference that Chinese students overseas should “refrain from coming home unless it’s very necessary,” because the government fears a resurgence of the virus from students returning from the US, which now has the most cases of COVID-19.

UC Berkeley points out that the visa offices have been closed in most US embassies and consulates. As the coronavirus spreads, at any moment the Trump administration may add more countries to the travel ban already applied to China , Iran and European countries, 

The schools also point out that returning to their home countries, the students may live in areas with shaky Internet services and might be unable to watch the online classes being offered in place of the in-person classes of pre-coronavirus pandemic. Also, because of the time differences, online classes might be shown in the middle of the night in some countries. For example, a class taking place at 3 p.m. in the eastern time zone of the US,  might begin at 3 a.m. in China.

International students in a quandary on what to do next.

F-1 STUDENT VISAS

Typically, the F-1 student visas require in-person instruction and limit a student’s ability to participate in online courses. 

The Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which is a unit within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that oversees the F-1 international student visa program, has offered these guidelines for online courses.

Off of the University of Southern California website: "Due to the rapidly evolving situation with COVID-19, SEVP issued guidance to universities that allows for increased flexibility to ensure international students can continue their academic progress. Universities can implement temporary adjustments such as moving to online instruction without negatively impacting the immigration status of enrolled international students."

International students face an uncertain financial and economic future as the Isolate-in-place mandates might extend into the summer. Some schools are considering offering part-time jobs to those students to help them defray costs of staying in the US over the summer.

At the same time, colleges are scrambling to advise students who are set to graduate this spring. Those who do not plan to continue their studies or to stay in the US to work must leave the country within 60 days of graduation when their F-1 visa would expire. It’s not clear if the Department of Homeland Security’s relaxation of current rules — which a spokeswoman said were intended to ensure that students “can continue to make normal progress in a full course of study” — would apply to departure deadlines.

Bri Rhodes, director of international-student advising at Mount Holyoke College, said his intitution is looking a various scenarios: What should they advise students whose visas or passports expire? If the outbreak persists into the summer, will they need to provide housing for those stranded in the United States? With quarantines slowing the global economy and keeping many people out of work in China, will international students need emergency financial help?

“We’re trying to have four or five different plans at the ready,” she told the Chronicle for Higher Education.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Graduation celebrations like this  at Columbia University in New York City in past years, will not be held
on US college campuses this Spring because of coranavirus concerns.

Having more students remain on the campus means colleges will need to maintain services they usually reduce or eliminate during the summer months. At the University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York, administrators will need to decide whether to keep the campus buses running and how many dining halls should remain open, Kathryn E. Tudini, associate vice provost for international-student services, told the Chronicle.

SUNY-Buffalo is looking at providing extra on-campus jobs or internships for international students, Tudini said. Visa rules forbid international students to work off campus, and by staying in the US, they may be further penalized if they seek employment in their home countries.

Besides the legal and academic complexities facing the students, just as important is how are they faring emotionally? These are young people, far from home and family, living in a strange  environment that is increasingly hostile to people of Asian descent.

Reports of students being beaten or harassed on college campuses abound. Since a website, Stop AAPI Hate, was established to record attacks against Asians and Asian Americans because of the coronavirus less than a month ago, over 1000 incidents have been reported.

International students are advised to seek help at their individual college websites for questions regarding their particular situation or to report any hate incidents.