Northeastern is granting international students flexibility this fall as visa processing delays triggered by the Trump administration’s updated screening policies continue to disrupt students’ travel to the United States, a university spokesperson told The Huntington News Sept. 10.
Northeastern, which enrolls the second highest number of international students of any American university behind New York University, has extended its arrival deadline by a month for international students, giving new students until Oct. 1 to arrive on the Boston campus without academic penalty. Northeastern has three campuses outside of the U.S. in London, Toronto, and Vancouver.
“We’re assisting students with all aspects of the visa process and, if needed, we will provide opportunities for remote learning, deferrals, and other contingencies such as enrolling in our London or Canadian campuses,” said Vice President for Communications Renata Nyul in an email to The News.
Students nationwide have experienced delays in enrollment stemming from a three-week suspension of student visa interviews earlier this summer to “protect the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats.” The U.S. Department of State also introduced new “comprehensive and thorough” social media screening procedures, which require applicants to make all their social media public for review by consular officers.
“The colleges are prepared to assist late arrivals so they can get up to speed in their respective programs, and across all campuses,” Nyul wrote.
The enrollment delays come on the heels of six months of uncertainty for international students — including more than 20,000 at Northeastern — after Donald Trump took office in January. More than 40 Northeastern students and recent graduates had their legal statuses terminated in early April, then restored at the end of the month, The News previously reported.
“In no way is this business as usual,” said Satyajit Dattagupta, Northeastern’s chief enrollment officer, in an interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education.
To maintain connections abroad, Northeastern has hosted recruitment fairs across India in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai, where both admitted students and prospective families attended events, The Chronicle reported.
