Source : ETNOWNEWS.COM Date : July 8, 2020
US President Donald Trump wants to encourage in-person classes and coax colleges into re-opening, say top educational consultants.
Mumbai: The Trump administration’s announcement asking international students to leave the United States if their classes were fully online and not issuing visas for fully online courses created panic among Indians and Indian students who are already studying in the US or planning to go there for further studies. The rule is applicable to F-1 and M-1 non-immigrant visa holders, which makes for the majority of students in the United States. According to the US State Department data, over 46,000 F-category and 714 M-category visas were issued in the Fiscal Year 2019 alone.
Evergreen revenue generation
According to the United States Department of Commerce, international students contributed $41 billion in 2018-19 school years rivaling some of the United States biggest exports like automobiles ($158 bn) and pharma ($51 bn).
If the economic impact was so large, why did the US come up with such a move? We spoke to overseas education consultants to find out what this rule means for the international students in America and its implications on their current curriculum, and the view is univocal that move was merely a strategy to coax colleges into kick-starting classes instead of going completely online.
A mere coping mechanism, believe experts
Sushil Sukhwani, Founding Director and Owner of Edwise International LLP, one of India’s leading overseas educational consultants is of a strong view that this step is nothing but a coping mechanism for the United States and aimed to encourage students to join classes instead of studying online. After the move, the colleges will have to rethink their strategies and come up with a plan to start hybrid or in-person classes.
Keep calm, and go hybrid!
What is the way out for students, however small in the number who will see the impact? They can simply opt for ‘credit transfer’ if their university/institute is not willing to start hybrid or offline classes, says Sushil Sukhwani. He sees the biggest impact in West Coast where the maximum colleges are considering online classes, but other states remain relatively scare-free.