ICE says newly enrolling international students cannot come to the U.S. if taking entirely online courses

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Daily file photo by Daniel Tian

The International Office, 630 Dartmouth Pl.

Isabelle Sarraf, Copy Chief

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Friday that newly enrolling international students will be barred from entering the country if their courses are taught entirely online, according to a news release.

The news comes ten days after ICE rescinded guidelines barring all international students from taking an online-only course load from remaining in the country following nationwide backlash.

Now, international students certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program after March 9 — before some incoming freshmen even heard back from admissions decisions — will not be able to enter the U.S. in the fall if their course of study is 100 percent online.

Yesterday, Northwestern administrators released information about course modalities for Fall Quarter, which indicated that only 1.8 percent of undergraduate class spots will be exclusively in-person and 13.5 percent will be hybrid. Incoming freshmen won’t register for classes until Wildcat Welcome, so the new ICE guidelines bring uncertainty to the international community once again.

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