Page 5 - StudyTravel Magazine April 2025 Issue

NEWS NORTH AMERICA

by Matthew Knott, News Editor
Read full news stories online...
www.studytravel.network

Trump presidency heralds changes for Canada survey shows graduate
international education employment rates
LANGUAGE SECONDARY TERTIARY ASSOCIATED TERTIARY ASSOCIATED
xecutive orders signed by President Trump in the early days lmost 90 per cent
of the new administration have impacted on the international of international
Eeducation sector. Astudents who
An executive order signed on January 20th required relevant graduated in 2020 and
departments to ensure all those seeking admission to the USA are were still in the country in 2023 were employed,
“vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible”. according to a Statistics Canada report.
NAFSA Association of International Educators www.nafsa.org, Of 127,810 students who graduated in 2020,
said “increased scrutiny could result in delays and additional 83,300 were still in the country in 2023, 88.6 per
requirements for student and scholar visa applicants”. cent were employed, only slightly lower than the
The order also requested a report within 60 days identifying comparative rate for domestic students (91).
countries “for which vetting and screening information is so While the employment rates of international
deficient as to warrant a partial or full bachelor, master’s and PhD students were lower,
suspension on the admission of nationals”. the employment rate of international college
During his first presidency, Trump issued a graduates (89.6) was actually higher than
travel ban on certain countries, although domestic college students (88.6).
after legal challenges and revisions F-1 More than a third of the international cohort
visa students were in most cases still allowed to enter the USA. (34.8 per cent) were working in sales and ser-
President Biden rescinded the travel ban in 2021. bit.ly/3Xb6yza vice occupations, compared with 17.4 per cent
In a fact sheet on a subsequent order on measures to combat of domestic graduates. At postgraduate level,
anti-Semitism, the President said, “I will also quickly cancel the 44.5 per cent of international master’s-level
student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, graduates and 45.8 per cent of international
which have been infested with radicalism like never before.” doctorate students were working in natural and
He calls on departments to provide analysis of complaints applied science areas.
against or involving HE institutions since October 7th, 2023. Critics International graduates earned 19.6 per cent
said attempts to remove students based on political speech would less than Canadian graduates, the analysis
be unconstitutional and likely face legal challenges. bit.ly/4kkZWIG showed. For international bachelor students,
And the Department of State has announced changes to the average full-time income was CAN$52,000,
eligibility for in-person visa interview waivers. Officers can only which was 20.2 per cent lower than Canadian
apply for an interview waiver for F-1, M-1 or J-1 visa applicants if graduates, while international master’s stu-
they previously held a visa in the same category that expired less dents earned CAN$70,000 on average, 16.6 per
than 12 months prior to the new application. cent less than their domestic counterparts.
This replaces rules established in 2023 which allowed interview Of the 83,300 students in the study, 56 per
waivers for visa applicants who had previously held any other non- cent were college graduates, 24.7 per cent had a
immigrant visa (not the same category) that had expired less than bachelor’s degree, 16.9 per cent had a master’s,
48 months prior to the new application. See more: bit.ly/41ocnfk and 2.4 per cent held a doctorate. bit.ly/41BdIQ9

2 STUDYTRAVEL MAGAZINE Credit (photo left): Nuno21/Shutterstock.com