Student Union
Proposed Legislation Would Give Afghan Scholars Special Visa to US
![FILE - Special Immigrant Visa Afghan Abdul Aman Sediqi, a U.S. Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) recipient, and his son Elyan watch news from Kabul following their evacuation from Afghanistan in Houston, Texas, Aug 26, 2021.](https://gdb.voanews.com/e6e2101e-9d12-43fb-ac79-50de32b34a5c_w250_r1_s.jpg)
A congressman from California has introduced legislation that would give Afghan Fulbright scholars special immigrant visas.
The legislation would automatically issue a special immigrant visa to any Afghan who lived in the United States as a Fulbright scholar and to their immediate family members to help them "escape persecution by the Taliban and relocate safely to the United States," according to a statement from the office of U.S. Representative John Garamendi, a Democrat.
"Fulbright Scholarships are one of the most vital U.S. cultural exchange programs that help to improve intercultural relations, diplomacy, and coordination between the United States and other countries," Garamendi's statement read.
"This is the right thing to do for our Afghan allies who stood with the United States against the Taliban and the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks."
The proposed legislation is called the Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act of 2021, or House Resolution 5482.
It would issue a special immigrant visa to any citizen or national of Afghanistan, and their legal spouse or children, selected on or after October 7, 2001, for the following State Department-sponsored educational and cultural exchange programs:
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Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Exchange Programs, including the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Grant Program, the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program.
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Any other similar educational or cultural exchange program administered by the State Department involving travel to the United States and spending significant time living, working or studying therein.
Last month, the Institute of International Education (IIE) announced plans to award scholarships to 10 former American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) students so they could "safely reconnect to their studies at a college campus abroad." AUAF was shut down by the Taliban-led government after the U.S. withdrew forces in mid-August.
IIE also announced other programs Afghan students could explore for financial assistance, including the Scholar Rescue Fund, which funds fellowships for "threatened and displaced" students at partnering colleges and universities around the globe. Eighteen emergency scholarships have been awarded, and future scholars are being identified.
Other programs available to help Afghan scholars and refugees are as follows:
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The Emergency Student Fund (ESF), which provides grants to international students enrolled at colleges and universities in the U.S. "when natural disasters, war or other crises in their home countries threaten their education," according to IIE. Since September 20, the ESF has funded 80 Afghan students on U.S. campuses who were experiencing financial difficulties.
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The Platform for Education in Emergencies Response, an online clearinghouse that connects refugees and displaced students with scholarships and online learning. Students from Afghanistan are eligible.
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The Artist Protection Fund (APF), which will award fellowships to two threatened Afghan artists from any field of practice and place them "at host institutions in safe countries where they can continue their work and plan for their futures."
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The Odyssey Scholarship, which was awarded to 10 Afghan students to allow them to study "in the safety of a college campus abroad." It enables "motivated and qualified refugees or displaced persons to pursue fully funded undergraduate or graduate programs throughout the world."
Columbia University in New York offers full scholarships every year for refugees and other displaced students. The Columbia University Scholarship for Displaced Students (CUSDS) was launched in December 2019 and has committed up to $6 million in scholarship money for up to 30 students so far.
To be eligible for the CUSDS, applicants must apply to and be accepted by one of the degree programs listed on the website. Acceptance requirements and application deadlines differ depending on the school and degree program.
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- By VOA News
International students have options to pay for grad school
![Children play outside Royce Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles, campus in Los Angeles, Aug. 15, 2024.](https://gdb.voanews.com/01000000-0aff-0242-c0a6-08dcc2504f9d_w250_r1_s.jpg)
U.S. News & World Report tackles the challenges of paying for grad school as an international student with this story giving tips on paying for school. Read the full story here. (August 2024)
- By Tracy Liu
Economics, tensions blamed for Chinese students shifting from US to Australia, Britain
![FILE - Chinese students wait outside the U.S. Embassy for their visa application interviews, May 2, 2012, in Beijing.](https://gdb.voanews.com/01000000-0aff-0242-4fea-08dc96d3d82c_cx0_cy5_cw0_w250_r1_s.jpg)
U.S. universities are welcoming international students as the academic year begins. But while the total number of foreign students is steadily growing, the top sending country, China, is showing signs of leveling out or shrinking.
Industry analysts say the negative trend is mainly due to higher costs amid China’s struggling economy, with a growing number of students going to less expensive countries like Australia and Britain, and tense ties between Washington and Beijing.
The number of foreign students studying in the U.S. in 2022-23 passed 1 million for the first time since the COVID pandemic, said Open Doors, an information resource on international students and scholars.
While the U.S. saw a nearly 12% total increase year-on-year for that period, the number of international students from China, its top source, fell by 0.2% to 289,526.
That’s 600 fewer students than the 2021-22 academic year, when their numbers dropped by nearly 9%. The COVID pandemic saw Chinese student numbers drop in 2020-21 by nearly 15%, in line with the world total drop.
While it’s not yet clear if the drop is a leveling out or a fluctuating decline, analysts say China’s struggling economy and the high cost of studying in the U.S. are the main reasons for the fall in student numbers.
Vincent Chen, a Chinese study abroad consultant based in Shanghai, said although most of his clients are still interested in studying in the U.S., there is a clear downward trend, while applicants for Anglophone universities in Australia and Britain have been increasing.
"If you just want to go abroad, a one-year master's degree in the U.K. is much cheaper,” Chen said. “Many people can't afford to study in the U.S., so they have to settle for the next best thing."
Data from the nonprofit U.S. group College Board Research shows that in the 2023-24 academic year, the average tuition and fees for a U.S. private college four-year education increased 4% to $41,540 compared with the previous academic year.
The British Council said three to four years of undergraduate tuition in Britain starts as low as $15,000.
The number of Chinese students in Britain was 154,260 in 2022-23, according to the U.K. Higher Education Statistics Agency, HESA, up from 121,145 in the 2018/19 academic year.
Australia’s Home Affairs office said in the 2023-24 program year, China was the top source foreign country for new student visa grants at 43,389, up slightly (1.5%) from the previous year.
Chen said Chinese state media's negative portrayal of the United States and concerns about discrimination have also contributed to the shift.
Bruce Zhang, a Chinese citizen who received his master's degree in Europe after studying in China, told VOA Mandarin he had such an incident occur to him after he was admitted to a U.S. university’s Ph.D. program.
When he entered Boston's Logan International Airport last year, Zhang said customs officers questioned him for more than an hour about his research, and if it had any links to the military, and took his computer and mobile phone for examination.
"Fortunately, I had heard that U.S. customs might be stringent in inspecting Chinese students, so I had relatively few study-related data and documents on my personal computer," he said.
Zhang was allowed to enter the U.S. for his studies in materials science, but the questioning left him so rattled that he has encouraged other Chinese to study elsewhere.
Cui Kai, a study abroad consultant in Massachusetts told VOA Mandarin that experiences like Zhang’s or worse happen for a reason.
"Students who were questioned or their visas were revoked at the customs are usually those who completed their undergraduate studies in China and come to the U.S. for a master's or doctoral degree in a sensitive major," said Cui.
Former President Donald Trump signed Proclamation 10043 in June 2020, prohibiting visas for any Chinese student who “has been employed by, studied at, or conducted research at or on behalf of, an entity in the PRC that implements or supports the PRC's “military-civil fusion strategy.”
The U.S. says China has been using students and scholars to gain access to key technology and, under Proclamation 10043, revoked more than 1,000 visas issued to Chinese nationals and has denied thousands more.
Critics say the policy is costly to the U.S. and is encouraging Chinese students to look to European and other universities.
Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
- By VOA News
Duolingo report details the reality of Gen Z international students
![FILE - A Dartmouth Athletics banner hangs outside Alumni Gymnasium on the Dartmouth University campus in Hanover, NH, March 5, 2024.](https://gdb.voanews.com/01000000-0aff-0242-e46b-08dcc24fe52c_cx0_cy9_cw0_w250_r1_s.jpg)
A report by Duolingo takes a look at the experiences of Gen Z international students studying in the U.S., Australia and the U.K, The Pie reports.
The report, the site says, debunks "characterizations of them as 'tech-obsessed, attention-deficit and self-centered'" and highlights "their emerging role in shaping global politics and economics."
Read the full story here. (August 2024)
- By VOA News
School with the lowest costs for international students
![FILE - A newly printed U.S. dollar bill is shown at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 8, 2022.](https://gdb.voanews.com/01000000-0aff-0242-5bb0-08dba10bf4ed_w250_r1_s.jpg)
U.S. News & World Report crunched the numbers and came up with a list of 20 U.S. colleges and universities with annual total costs at or below $20,184. Check out these best bargains for international students here. (August 2024)
- By VOA News
How to make the most of schools' international student services
![FILE - Students walk down Jayhawk Boulevard, the main street through the main University of Kansas campus, in Lawrence, Kansas, April 12, 2024.](https://gdb.voanews.com/01000000-0aff-0242-b8af-08dca145cc99_w250_r1_s.jpg)
U.S. colleges and universities offer a variety of services for international students.
U.S. News & World Report takes a look at them and details how to best use them. Read the article here. (June 2024)