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Philadelphia region university leaders and nonprofits that work with international students warn that new restrictive immigration policies could discourage future students from coming to the U.S. That could mean an economic hit to Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.
In the past, international students in the U.S. could stay as long as they needed to finish their studies and they remained actively enrolled in a university or college. However, two months ago, the Department of Homeland Security changed the rules so that students can only stay up to four years and need to apply for extensions to stay longer. The department said the new rule is necessary because of “rampant visa abuse.” This is despite the fact that many programs, such as doctoral programs, routinely take more than four years to complete.
The future of this rule is uncertain, as a federal judge blocked it in mid-September, a day before it was scheduled to take effect.
International students are confused and dismayed by this new rule, said Bill Keyes, executive director of International House Philadelphia, a nonprofit that welcomes international students to the city.
“The first impression is one of hurt and confusion because what the decision signals is a deep distrust in this population and the higher eds that oversee this population in the U.S.,” he said.
He pointed out that the existing system already requires schools to regularly report to the federal government about their international students.
“International students and scholars, before even the first Trump administration, were already the most monitored and vetted classes of nonimmigrants in our whole alphabet soup of immigration statuses,” Keyes said.
The University of Pennsylvania has already lost students because of the new rule, according to a declaration the school filed to a federal court in a case challenging the Trump administration.
Penn reported that in a master’s program, several dozen students withdrew from the incoming class this summer, citing concerns about visas and their ability to travel freely. The school also said their staff would have to track students more closely to comply with the new rules, and it would cost them as much as $1 million.
It’s an unusually challenging time for international students, said Amy Gadsden, associate vice provost for global affairs at Penn.
“There’s still a lot of enthusiasm and excitement among our international students for being at Penn. But there is a cloud of unpredictability and instability around visa policy and how that will impact students in the course of their education,” she said.
Overall international student enrollment in the U.S. has increased in recent years, but declined for the first time in 2025, according to data from NAFSA: Association of International Educators, a nonprofit organization for international education. The organization estimates this led to economic losses in every state, including more than $50 million in Pennsylvania.
