In an unprecedented step for a major research university, Purdue University has begun to curb the flow of Chinese graduate students to its Indiana campuses. The policy follows pressure from Congress and President Donald Trump for U.S. institutions to monitor Chinese scholars more closely but goes far beyond those demands.
The directive, which was first reported in early December 2025 by the Lafayette Journal & Courier and the Purdue student newspaper, has never been put in writing. But several faculty members confirmed to Science that it is in effect. Last spring it apparently led Purdue to rescind departmental letters of acceptance to more than 100 graduate students, most from China. More recently it is impacting students that faculty members would like to employ as research assistants in their lab but whom the university has not admitted into a doctoral program.
“The policy doesn’t make any sense,” says one faculty member, who like others requested anonymity because faculty have been ordered not to talk to the media. If it continues, “we’ll experience a huge brain drain of talented students simply because the university is willing to capitulate to avoid being targeted by this administration.”