FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas is among 118 universities to sign onto a friend-of-the court brief in support of a program for foreign students being challenged in federal court.
The brief supports what's known as optional practical training, which allows students in the U.S. on an F-1 visa to remain in the country after graduation for a specified time to work in jobs related to their field of study. The time period can extend to three years for graduates in science and technical fields.
A lawsuit by the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, a trade union, claims the U.S. Department of Homeland Security acted without proper authority when it implemented rules allowing optional practical training, also referred to as OPT.
The Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a group of U.S. college leaders, on Nov. 25 announced the court brief. UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz is a member of the group's steering committee.
"The end of OPT would dramatically hurt and undermine the success of international students, eliminating a critical experiential component, which would hurt graduate education on our campus," Steinmetz said in a statement released by the group.
In the fall of 2018, 354 international students who attended UA participated in optional practical training, UA spokeswoman Amy Unruh said. Training can begin while a student is still enrolled, but most students in optional practical training have already obtained their degrees from UA, Unruh said.
This fall, UA enrolled 1,384 international students, making up 5% of all enrollment, according to preliminary totals. The number of foreign students at UA has been decreasing since the fall of 2015, when the university had 1,545 international students. Nationally, international enrollment fell in 2018-19 after years of gains, according to a report from the Institute of International Education.
John Miano, an attorney for the union, said if Steinmetz "is worried that he cannot attract foreign students, he would be better off improving the educational value of his institution."
NW News on 12/11/2019