Universities of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

October 26, 2020
Chad Wolf
Acting SecretaryU.S. Department of Homeland Security
301 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20528
Sharon Hageman
Acting Regulatory Unit Chief
Office of Policy and Planning
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
500 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20536
Dear Acting Secretary Wolf and Acting Chief Hageman:
As representatives of institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, wesubmit these comments in reference to ​Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Docket No.
ICEB–2019–0006-0001: Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extensionof Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, andRepresentatives of Foreign Information Media,​ published in the Federal Register on Friday,
September 25, 2020.
The proposed DHS rule, which eliminates the “duration of status” standard for international
students and exchange visitors (F-1 students, F-2 dependents, J-1 exchange visitors, and J-2dependents) and replaces it with a fixed time period not to exceed four years, would place asignificant burden on students and scholars choosing to study and engage in research at U.S.
universities. Pennsylvania colleges and universities attract 52,000 of the more than one million
international students who come to the U.S. annually, ranking Pennsylvania 6th nationally interms of enrollments. Many of these students are highly competitive, seeking advanced degrees
in technical fields. Some of these students decide later to apply their advanced skills by seeking
careers in the U.S. and become attractive employees for Pennsylvania industries, particularly inthe manufacturing and health care sectors. Our institutions’ capacity to compete for some of theworld’s most promising and qualified international students is a significant benefit to ouracademic programs and research operations, draws us closer to the needs of Pennsylvania
employers, and is an important measure of our worldwide competitiveness as institutions ofhigher education.

The new DHS proposal threatens this competitive strength. The proposed 4-year limit on
student and exchange visitor status, along with the more limited 2-year limitation for certain
students and exchange visitors, does not conform with the typical length of doctoral degree
programs of 5-6 years, five-year cooperative and dual bachelors and masters, or evenbachelor’s degree programs for those students and scholars subject to the 2-year status limit.
Imposing a time limit insufficient for degree completion would introduce disruptive uncertainty
into an international student’s decision to commit to academic programs in the U.S. Similarly,
this rule may deter research scholars from coming to the U.S., due to the uncertainties createdby this new extension of stay application process. Scholars may not be willing to risk thepotential disruption to the completion of their research projects that might be caused by this new
extension of stay application process. This could very well accelerate the decline in international
enrollments that began five years ago and deepened during the ongoing pandemic, and evenjeopardize our universities’ academic research enterprises in terms of research productivity andrevenue, impacting quality measures such as international rankings.
International students make a significant economic impact on the Commonwealth - over $2
billion a year, supporting nearly 28,000 jobs. International graduates of U.S. universities are alsoa critical source of talent for Pennsylvania businesses and elsewhere, contributing to ournational economic competitiveness in cutting-edge fields. Students who study in Pennsylvania
colleges and universities learn about local industries and communities through internships,
experiential learning opportunities, technical training programs, and collaborative research
efforts. This may often lead to a decision to seek employment in Pennsylvania industries where
their advanced skills are needed. Under this DHS proposed rule, Pennsylvania employers could
lose access to a critical pipeline of advanced STEM knowledge and talent to competitor nations.
As leaders among Pennsylvania’s institutions of higher education, we would be remiss if we did
not point out the significant imposition this proposed rule represents to academic
decision-making. In proposing this rule change, the federal government is attempting toencroach on the role of academic institutions to make decisions concerning student progress intheir degree program. DHS proposes to eliminate the “normal progress” standard for allowing anextension of stay in favor of a “compelling academic reasons” standard. Under this standard, thegovernment may attempt to assert some undefined discretionary power over students while
ignoring the input of the students’ universities. This may create a scenario in which a student
could apply for an extension of their studies, be approved by their own school, but not by thefederal government. This would be an unwarranted, unnecessary and harmful intrusion into
academic decision-making, and further adds to the high level of uncertainty for students
beginning graduate studies in the U.S.
Pennsylvania universities value the vital contributions made by international students andscholars. These individuals enrich our learning environments and make important contributions
to our research programs. We believe the DHS proposal to set an arbitrary time limit on
academic programs for nonimmigrant international students is both unnecessary and harmful tostudents, universities, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the nation at large. We ask that

DHS withdraw this rule, and instead pursue policies to make U.S. colleges and universities more
attractive destinations for the best and the brightest from around the world, which is truly one
important tactic for maintaining U.S. technological leadership and developing the innovations
that will grow the nation’s economy in years to come.
Sincerely,
James H. Garrett, Jr.
Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Carnegie Mellon University
Paul E. Jensen
Executive Vice President and Nina Henderson Provost
Drexel University
Nathan Urban
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Lehigh University
Nicholas P. Jones
Executive Vice President and ProvostPenn State University
JoAnne A. Epps
Executive Vice President and Provost
Temple University
Wendell Pritchett
Provost
University of Pennsylvania
Ann E. Cudd
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
University of Pittsburgh
Patrick G. Maggitti
ProvostVillanova University