The Trump Administration is proposing a rule to eliminate the Duration of Status (DS) for international students. This proposed rule, issued on August 28, 2025, replaces the current DS period with a system that admits international students to a stay no longer than four years barring an expensive and lengthy application for an extension.
The administration has already begun a brief 30-day comment period. We urge UUP members and higher ed advocates to submit comments to stress how this proposed rule would harm our students and institutions. The implementation of this rule would:
- Restrict the number of international students attending SUNY campuses and campuses across the United States by curtailing the amount of time students could take to complete academic programs; the rule would likely deter many students from seeking higher education in the US at all.
- Have a detrimental effect on graduate programs since the median time to complete a Ph.D. for all students in the US is 5.7 years. Many graduate programs would risk losing all of their international students.
- Reduce human and intellectual capital across the country. Many international students seek to stay in the US and work legally after their studies are complete; US companies would lose access to their skill and talent.
- Be unnecessary. International student visa holders are already the most closely monitored group of nonimmigrants in the US.
Please COMMENT HERE on the damage that this rule change would inflict!