Penn Issues Response to Recent Federal Government Changes in Rules Governing International Students

July 7, 2020
By University of Pennsylvania

Penn is deeply disappointed by the most recent announcement that the federal government will not extend the online course maximum waiver that it put into place this spring. That waiver helped hundreds of thousands of international students across the U.S. remain in their degree programs when America’s universities moved to online courses to help address the public health crisis brought about by COVID-19.  Today’s announcement risks the status of these students and is bad not only for the students affected, but for our nation’s standing as a leader in higher education and for our country’s overall economy.

The educational requirements for international students should be the same as for domestic students – not higher or different in any way. The United States government should be doing everything it can to welcome international students to its shores and should be working as a partner with colleges and universities during this challenging pandemic, not sowing chaos in the lives of committed and dedicated students by continually changing the rule book governing their status.

This statement was posted on the University of Pennsylvania's Instagram.

Read about Penn's response in The Daily Pennsylvanian