President Cadge joined higher education leaders across the Commonwealth, as well as the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania/AICUP, to advocate for international students who hope to make Pennsylvania their academic home. The presidents' letter, addressed in this instance to Rep. Madeleine Dean, was sent to all members of the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation.
The below letter was sent to Congresswoman Madelaine Dean on December 23, 2025.
Dear Congresswoman Dean,
On behalf of colleges, universities, and partners from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we express deep concern about recent and proposed federal immigration policies that are restricting and discouraging international students from choosing the United States—and Pennsylvania—as their academic home. These students are essential to our civic communities, economic vitality, research enterprise, workforce development, and global leadership. Yet policy instability, travel restrictions, visa delays, and heightened uncertainty are already undermining institutions’ ability to fulfill their educational and research missions and threatening the long-term competitiveness of both Pennsylvania and the nation.
Pennsylvania is the sixth-largest host of international students in the country, welcoming roughly 50,000 students each year whose presence fuels more than $2 billion in annual economic activity and supports nearly 20,000 Pennsylvania jobs. Nationally, international students contributed $43 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023–2024 and sustained over 378,000 jobs, underscoring their indispensable role in America’s economic strength. Beyond their economic impact, international students drive innovation, expand cultural and academic exchange, and stabilize institutional budgets—helping reduce costs for Pennsylvania families. As classmates, colleagues, and neighbors, they enrich the Commonwealth’s civic and cultural fabric, deepen community ties, and ensure that Pennsylvania’s campuses remain globally connected and internationally respected.
However, institutions across Pennsylvania and the country are already facing steep enrollment declines this year. The Institute of International Education’s 2025 Open Doors Report already found a 17% drop in new international student enrollment, with 96% of institutions citing visa delays, scrutiny, and policy uncertainty as key factors. Pennsylvania institutions report similar patterns. The sharp loss signals long-term risks to talent, research capacity, and economic contribution, and early application data for the 25-26 cycle suggests further declines can be expected.
We are particularly concerned about several ongoing or proposed federal actions that are generating significant uncertainty for current and prospective students and undermining the stability of our nation’s long-standing and highly successful higher-education system—one in which Pennsylvania ranks fourth nationally in the number of institutions. These actions include:
- Department of Homeland Security’s Proposed Rule for F-1/J-1 Students: Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students and Exchange Visitors will: 1) eliminate duration of status—which allows students to remain in the U.S. for the length of their degree—and replace it with a fixed four-year admission period; 2) require repeated extension-of-stay applications, increasing bureaucracy, and creating risk even for fully compliant students; 3) shorten the F-1 grace period to 30 days; and 4) restrict academic program changes. Together, these changes would introduce significant new uncertainty for fully compliant students, threaten degree completion and research continuity, and reduce institutional flexibility—particularly for Ph.D. candidates and students in joint or extended programs. The existing system—combined with SEVIS monitoring—has demonstrated strong compliance without burdening federal processing systems for more than 30 years. The proposed change would create backlogs, uncertainty, and new risk with no demonstrated policy benefit.
- Restrictions on Post-Graduation Work Opportunities: Threats to Optional Practical Training (OPT), including the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) OPT extension, undermine the appeal of U.S. degrees, as practical work experience is essential to the financial viability of studying in the United States. Changes to the H1B visa program, which brings highly skilled workers to the U.S., are impacting universities and businesses who rely on top talent to advance research and work outputs. Limiting these pathways would deprive the state and country of talent urgently needed in high-demand industries and workforce-shortage areas—a lose-lose outcome for both students and the economy.
- Ongoing Policy Instability: Students now have prolonged visa interview delays, pauses in visa issuances, unpredictable travel restrictions, and frequent shifts in federal policy. This instability creates pervasive uncertainty for students and institutions—disrupting academic planning, research timelines, clinical operations, and Pennsylvania’s long-standing global recruitment pipelines.
- Perception of the United States as Less Welcoming: In a 2025 global enrollment industry survey, only half of respondents viewed the U.S. as welcoming—a 24-point decline. As competitor nations such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia expand simplified study and work pathways, generous poststudy work options, and national messaging that welcome international students, U.S. institutions face increasing recruitment challenges.
These policy pressures threaten several pillars of Pennsylvania’s and the United States’ higher-education and workforce ecosystems:
- Driving Economic Growth & Strengthening Priority Industries: International students are essential to Pennsylvania’s innovation economy and to the United States’ goal of global leadership in AI and advanced technologies. More than 57% pursue STEM fields that power the Commonwealth’s highest growth industries—technology, life sciences, artificial intelligence, energy, and advanced manufacturing. Their expertise fuels research breakthroughs, entrepreneurship, start-up formation, intellectual property development, and growth in critical sectors such as biotechnology, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing.
- Reducing Costs & Supporting Pennsylvania Families: International students generate essential tuition revenue that stabilizes institutional budgets and helps moderate costs for domestic families. Their enrollment strengthens the financial health of universities and community colleges, while their spending supports local businesses and regional economies—particularly in communities where higher-education institutions serve as economic anchors. Research shows that international students generate substantial revenue and research activity that expand educational capacity and opportunities for domestic students rather than displacing them.
- Expanding Workforce Development & Talent Pipelines: International students help fill urgent workforce gaps in healthcare, engineering, computer science, and research—fields where Pennsylvania faces persistent hiring challenges and where demand consistently outpaces domestic supply. Many remain in the Commonwealth through OPT and long-term employment, providing specialized skills essential to statewide innovation and economic competitiveness while strengthening the tax base and expanding access to global expertise.
- Supporting Rural Health & Underserved Communities: International students and professionals are essential to maintaining healthcare in PA’s rural and underserved regions, where shortages are most acute. International medical graduates fill critical roles in primary care, psychiatry, and internal medicine, and national programs like the J-1 Conrad 30 Waiver and H-1B clinician pathways place many of them
directly in high-need areas. International students contribute to research that strengthens health, agriculture, defense, and food security.
Given these substantial concerns, we respectfully urge you to act swiftly to support a predictable, welcoming, predictable, and economically sound federal framework for international students in Pennsylvania.
- Oppose policies that shorten or restrict the period of stay for F-1 and J-1 students and preserve a full-program “duration of status” model and urge withdrawal of rules that impose unnecessary extension-of-stay requirements, shorten grace periods, or limit flexibility for program changes and timely degree completion.
- Support measures that promote stable visa processing, including predictable interview timelines, reduced backlogs, and safeguards against arbitrary denials or revocations that disrupt academic planning and undermine U.S. credibility abroad.
- Issue a letter affirming Pennsylvania’s commitment to international talent, recognizing the essential contributions of international students, scholars, and professionals.
As global competition intensifies, the United States cannot afford to project uncertainty or exclusion to the world’s top students. President Trump emphasized this point himself in a November interview, noting the essential contributions international students make.
We stand ready to provide additional data, institutional perspectives, and direct student experiences to support your work. Thank you for your commitment to Pennsylvania and for your urgent attention to this critical issue.
Respectfully,
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) • Bryn Mawr College • Carnegie Mellon University • Cedar Crest College • Dickinson College • Drexel University • Gettysburg College • International House Philadelphia (IHP) • Lehigh University • PA Chamber of Business and Industry • Pennsylvania Council for International Education (PACIE) • Pennsylvania State University • Susquehanna University • Temple University • University of Pennsylvania • University of Pittsburgh • Wilson College
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