Penn Faces "Constant Issues" With Trump Admin Over 200 Students Affected by Travel Ban

The University of Pennsylvania is investigating ways to assist roughly 200 students from 12 different nations who have been impacted by this situation.
travel ban recently enacted
under President Donald Trump’s administration.

And numerous additional students might be impacted by the administration’s choice to
suspend all interviews for student visas
.

“It’s unclear who or how many will be arriving in the fall for classes,” Jeffrey Cooper, vice president for government and community affairs, told members of
Penn’s
The board of trustees during a committee meeting on Thursday stated, “This situation introduces considerable uncertainty, numerous unanswered questions, and above all, it generates substantial unease.”

Strains escalate at community colleges due to Trump’s focus on foreign students.

Trump’s
travel ban
This recently implemented regulation affects 12 nations: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Beth Winkelstein, the deputy provost, mentioned that the university has been looking into various possibilities to assist international students. These include potentially letting them begin their studies through programs offered overseas. Other alternatives being considered are deferring enrollment for twelve months or permitting delayed entry.

Winkelstein stated that Penn’s three academic councils—at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels—have decided to continue their meetings and work throughout the summer in order to generate additional solutions.
who will leave Penn
By the end of August, they will take up their position as provost at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. At the University of Pennsylvania, approximately one-fourth of the total student body consists of international students, which amounts to 6,903 students as of Fall 2024.

Across the country, both Haverford and Penn have alerted their international students to come back to campus prior to President Donald Trump’s inaugural ceremony.

It’s not only students who might feel the impact of federal policies, but also international patients seeking medical care at Penn, noted Cooper, who plans to step down from his position at Penn after 17 years. Such policies could lead to visa expirations or prevent family members from entering the country, he explained.

There are persistent problems with minimal clarity in Washington regarding the next steps or whom to consult for resolving these matters,” he stated. “Interacting reliably with the present administration is extremely challenging.

During his analysis of the discussions surrounding the budgets at the federal, state, and municipal levels concerning their impact on Penn, Cooper commented on these interactions. He pointed out that
the city’s budget
is set to pass shortly, whereas the state budget process, similar to the federal one,
involves many uncertainties.

It’s difficult for me to express this, but … the City Council and the mayor are currently our most effective form of governance,” Cooper stated. “That can be somewhat unsettling.

Penn, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore caution that hikes in the endowment tax might damage financial assistance as well as various programs.

Funding for research, taxation of endowments, and various uncertainties

Along with worries regarding international students, Penn also confronts uncertain times ahead concerning research funding from federal sources, as well as the possibility of a significant rise in the
endowment tax
, along with several probes. The Trump administration is investigating Penn over
foreign funding
and its
incorporation of a transgender athlete
on the women’s swimming squad during the 2021-22 season.

The level of exertion required to address these investigations and document requests is immense,” Cooper stated regarding these queries. “It feels incredibly daunting. We’ve made every attempt to be as cooperative as we can, hoping this might foster a better rapport with the administration.

Penn stands to lose
around $250 million in research funding
and has witnessed an extra
$175 million in financing put on hold
Instead of permitting transgender athlete Lia Thomas to compete on the women’s swimming team, there is also a suggestion for significant reductions in financial support for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, which are key governmental bodies financing Penn’s research endeavors.

The Trump administration requests that Penn reinstate awards for female swimmers following the allowance of a transgender swimmer to participate.

And, while the university currently pays $10 million under a 1.4% endowment tax enacted during Trump’s first term,
That figure might increase significantly.
as per the legislation approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Cooper stated that the tax rate might increase to 7% for Penn and potentially soar up to 14% should the House’s proposal to omit international students from calculations persist. Presently, institutions face this taxation when they have over 500 fee-paying students along with an endowment exceeding $500,000 per student; excluding international students could propel Penn into a bracket with steeper rates.

Cooper mentioned that a cluster of Ivy League institutions are now advocating for a 5% tax as a substitute option.

He mentioned that the budget also encompasses several reductions which might impact Penn. These include modifications to the federal Pell Grant initiative aimed at supporting economically disadvantaged students, as well as the discontinuation of a loan scheme designed so that students do not accrue interest during their time in college plus an additional six months post-graduation.

Cooper also recognized the backlash from the community that the university faced afterward.
cleaning its website and programs from diversity initiatives
In order to adhere to the federal administration’s guidelines, he mentioned that the university has been stressing its initiatives aimed at securing federal funds to prevent staff cuts and preserve program integrity.

“To secure funding, we must ensure that our initiatives align with the federal government’s stance on these matters — which isn’t straightforward,” Cooper stated. “However, our aim is to maintain the university’s operations at the utmost efficiency.”