SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the prepare-yourself-for-further-tuition-increases dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
International students will be forced to leave the U.S. or transfer to another college if their schools offer classes entirely online this fall, under new guidelines issued Monday by federal immigration authorities.
The guidelines, issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, provide additional pressure for universities to reopen even amid growing concerns about the recent spread of COVID-19 among young adults. Colleges received the guidance the same day that some institutions, including Harvard University, announced that all instruction will be offered remotely.
[...] Those attending schools that are staying online must "depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction," according to the guidance.
[...] Of particular concern is a stipulation saying students won't be exempt from the rules even if an outbreak forces their schools online during the fall term. It's unclear what would happen if a student ended up in that scenario but faced travel restrictions from their home country, said Terry Hartle, the council's senior vice president.
[...] Colleges across the U.S. were already expecting sharp decreases in international enrollment this fall, but losing all international students could be disastrous for some. Many depend on tuition revenue from international students, who typically pay higher tuition rates. Last year, universities in the U.S. attracted nearly 1.1 million students from abroad.
[...] The administration has long sought deep cuts to legal immigration, but the goal was elusive before the coronavirus.
The BBC notes:
[...] Large numbers of foreign students travel to the US to study every year and are a significant source of revenue for universities as many pay full tuition.
[...] Harvard has announced all course instruction will be delivered online when students return for the new academic year, including those living at the university.
[...] Monday's announcement said foreign students who remain in the US while enrolled in online courses and fail to switch to in-person courses could face "immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings".
The rule applies to holders of F-1 and M-1 visas, which are for academic and vocational students. The State Department issued 388,839 F visas and 9,518 M visas in the fiscal year 2019, according to the agency's data.
According to the US Commerce Department, international students contributed $45 billion (£36 billion) to the country's economy in 2018.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday July 08 2020, @12:09PM (6 children)
What's the fraud in this case? Covid happened after all.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday July 08 2020, @12:22PM (5 children)
They were charged to be able to access those facilities, and then were denied access to those facilities. The legally correct course of action would have been to refund that portion of tuition that covered the costs of those facilities. For example, is it right to charge a student for a space in a dormitory that you then deny him access to?
To my knowledge, no university did refund any part of tuition for students they kicked off campus; they wanted to have their cake, and eat it, too. If I were a student who had paid a full semester's tuition and gotten only a fraction of the value of that transaction because of the actions of the university administration, I would be incandescent with rage.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday July 08 2020, @12:53PM (1 child)
What of the increased cost from setting up online teaching for a single semester/quarter? Does that too get put into the cost equation. Or are the colleges supposed to provide at no cost to the student?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday July 08 2020, @01:40PM
Its not 2005 anymore, I assure you my kids K12 school district didn't spend a penny. Everything like assignment collecting and grading has been online for all classes at least since the "everybody gotta iPad" fad maybe a decade ago. The teachers made free accounts on youtube and uploaded private videos or used the preexisting district wide chat system or just said F it and emailed assignments while stopping group teaching. My daughter's math teacher stopped teaching in a group sense and would only do 1 on 1 or very small group video chats IF the kid was unclear about a concept; hyper customized to each kid and apparently worked pretty well. My son's stagecraft teacher was like F-it make a power point plan and then build something at home and best of luck kids "peace out" and AFAIK everyone got an A, but its stagecraft, in person everyone got an A anyway. My daugher's choir class had kids sing into their ipads and get graded once a week. The point is it didn't cost ANYTHING extra.
Now I donno what organic chem lab or ballroom dance class had to do, just pass everyone I guess. Did ballroom dance class have to mail everyone inflatable dolls? Maybe you got SOMETHING there, but ...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by zocalo on Wednesday July 08 2020, @01:00PM
Ultimately, I suspect it would be very enlightening to be able to follow the money here. I wouldn't be at all surprised to a see a fairly large chunk of that surplus cash ending up in the hands of lobbyists, lawyers, politicians, and others than can make the problem of litigious students go away, and if "go away" can quite literally mean "overseas", then that's just fine and dandy.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 08 2020, @02:55PM
AFAIK, our university requested students to leave the dorms and refunded room and board for those that did. Rules about involuntary eviction apparently permitted students who didn't want to return home to stay.
Tuition refunds, OTOH are being demanded, but haven't been granted (yet).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 08 2020, @08:35PM
Act of God, Phoenix666, or act of Trump. Not their fault. Due Diligence. No breach of contract. Why do you hate teachers so much? Catholic school in your past?