Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a quick donation to Truthout today! 

The Trump administration is revising a visa rule for international students that in part determines how long, and under what conditions, they can stay in the country. The change sounds technical. Its effects are not.

Beginning Sept. 15, 2026, most students entering the U.S. on F-1 and J-1 visas – meaning visas for international students and exchange visitors, including students and scholars – will no longer be admitted for “duration of status.” Duration of status means they can remain in the U.S. as long they are enrolled in their academic program, or shortly thereafter.

Now, academic visa holders will instead be able to stay in the country for a predetermined period of time, generally four years.

Those who need more time to complete a degree will have to reapply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for permission to stay.

The change could also complicate international travel: Students returning to the U.S. will have to make sure their fixed period of admission has not expired, in addition to having the valid visa and school documents normally required for reentry.

How International Students Got Swept Up in Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Crackdown

The rule also lets full-time international students stay 30 days in the country after they complete their program, as opposed to the 60 days they currently have to remain in the U.S.

I study the history of international students in U.S. higher education. Universities rely on international students for tuition, teaching, research and other kinds of skilled work.

These new rules will make it harder for some international students to visit and stay in the country, a result that will likely have negative consequences for universities and colleges, too.

A Look at International Students

U.S. colleges and universities hosted 1,177,766 international students in the 2024-25 school year, an all-time high that made up approximately 6% of all higher education students.

Most of them were working toward degrees in in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Nearly 488,500 of those international students were seeking graduate degrees. More than 294,000 of them participated in a federal program called Optional Practical Training, which helps some international students work in jobs related to their field of study before or after they graduate.

International enrollment grew steadily........

© Truthout