UW system leadership last month attributed the slight increase in systemwide student enrollment to an 8% decline in the number of international students, according to preliminary estimates.
UW system President Jay Rothman said in October that the availability and timeliness of securing visas had an impact on international student enrollment.
“It’s an area that we will continue to try to work on to try to be able to offer that opportunity because we think those students can enrich our universities, in terms of providing diversity, different perspectives,” Rothman said.
International students under the Trump administration have faced new policies to study in the U.S., such as delays in scheduling a visa interview before the school year, causing a backlog, including in countries like China that enroll large numbers of students overseas.
The administration also zeroed in on Chinese international students over the summer, saying it planned to revoke visas of students who have connections to the Chinese Communist Party or who study in “critical fields.”