US President Donald Trump’s administration has issued a memo urging universities to tighten the issuance of certain internship work authorisations for international students, warning that institutions that fail to comply with federal rules could lose their certification to enrol foreign students.
The August 24 memo said the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP), part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had “observed a rise in Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorisations that appear to violate regulatory requirements which permit CPT only where the training is an integral part of an established curriculum”.
“Failure to comply with SEVP regulations may result in an institution losing certification to enrol foreign students,” the memo stated.
Following the guidance, some universities, including the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley, temporarily halted certain applications for work authorisations for international students.
“UCLA has paused certain Curricular Practical Training authorisations while it reviews recent federal guidance and determines next steps,” a university spokesperson said.
UC Berkeley’s international office described the latest memo as “more narrow in focus, more direct, and includes content that is more restrictive in nature”. The federal government had issued another memo on the issue earlier in August.
The university said it was unlikely to process some work authorisation applications “in the near future” and advised affected international students to prepare accordingly.
However, Berkeley said it would continue processing “degree-requirement” CPT applications as usual and would restart processing “Doctoral Dissertation and Master’s Thesis Research CPT”. The university’s international office said it would seek advice from legal experts while developing procedures that comply with the new federal requirements.
“Nothing about these regulations has changed,” the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said. “However, schools and employers should consider themselves on notice: under President Trump, abuse of this generous system will no longer be tolerated.”
The Trump administration has also increased scrutiny of US universities through investigations and funding threats over issues including pro-Palestinian demonstrations related to Israel’s war in Gaza, diversity programmes, climate initiatives and transgender policies. Rights groups have expressed concerns over free speech, academic freedom and due process.
In a separate development, the US Justice Department alleged on Thursday that admissions practices at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences favoured Black and Hispanic applicants, following a federal investigation.
The university rejected the findings.
“We are disappointed by the DOJ’s conclusions, which we believe are incorrect,” it said, maintaining that its admissions policies complied with the law and were not discriminatory.
The Justice Department has made similar allegations against other universities and said it was seeking settlement discussions. It warned that lawsuits could follow if those negotiations fail.
