President Donald Trump rolled out a number of executive orders during his first month in office, many of which could have major implications for international education and study abroad programs for U.S. students.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order requiring the State Department to align its policies and programs with an “America First foreign policy,” which could impact study abroad programs in the future.
The “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” executive order plans to intensify the evaluation process for all visa applicants, including individuals with F-1 and J-1 student visas, to ensure that “admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes towards its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.”
This could impact many international students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on their college campuses. On January 29, Trump signed an executive order to deport all international students who were found to have participated.
Annenberg Media reached out to USC’s Office of Overseas Studies but they were not available for comment prior to publication.
The National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA) held an interview with its deputy executive director of public policy, Jill Allen Murray, earlier this month to discuss the Trump administration’s new policies and the potential impact they could have on international education. She acknowledged a growing fear in the organization about other countries making it harder for U.S. students to study abroad.
“We’ve written to certain embassies to voice our concerns about how these deterrents might force a decline in American students going to a particular country,” Murray said. “We’ve seen a little bit of an uptick in those types of issues. It’s happened in Australia and Italy, and it was previously an issue in Spain.”
Alexis Goodly, Program Specialist for USC Dornsife Faculty-Led Programs, said that her department has not yet encountered significant challenges related to the current administration’s foreign policies that might affect student travel plans. However, she notes that the team remains mindful of potential obstacles that could arise.
“With the Trump administration, if he happens to put restrictions on certain countries we’re traveling to, then most definitely, we could see it affecting our travel arrangements and where we send the students,” Goodly said.
Goodly explained that the department is particularly prepared to address issues that may impact DACA students and international students, as these groups faced significant uncertainty during the last administration.
She highlighted the importance of adapting to any shifts in policy that could affect students' ability to participate in study-abroad opportunities or other international programs.
Goodly added that the USC LGBTQ+ Student Center also has resources aiding transgender students with foreign traveling amidst Trump’s executive order regarding the federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents such as passports.
Students at USC voiced growing concerns for potential restrictions among travel abroad programs.
“I’m shook and frustrated,” said Jah-Meir’e Rae Shelton, a junior studying architecture and planning to study abroad in Asia. “You never really think that international relations with the President and another country [are] gonna affect your education and then, you know, here we are talking about it…it could lead to a lot of missed opportunities for a lot of other students.”
Andrew Skinner, a sophomore studying theater, set to study abroad at the British Academy of Dramatic Arts, said USC should “make sure to keep [the study abroad programs] up throughout everything, and stay on the side of the students, rather than the side of the administration.”
Lina Urquiza, an American popular culture and social science major currently studying abroad in Galway, Ireland, said she thinks it’s important for the university to advocate for students abroad.
“I think it’s [about] just keeping up those relationships that we have already, and making sure that the [abroad] schools understand that we are still a university trying to educate students and this is a big part of people’s experiences,” Urquiza said.