Oregon Universities will be affected by Travel Ban

A shaky future may be in store for many potential students.

Photo: Creative Commons

(SALEM, Ore.) - Thanks to President Trump’s Administration recent travel restrictions, it is very likely that Oregon’s public universities are going to be adversely affected.

Essentially, there are around 180 students from international origin that will have issues in the future. These students are already enrolled on courses but renewing their visa status could cause no end of scrutinisation and possible refusal thanks to the travel ban.

There is also a strong body of opinion that believes future recruitment for overseas students will be severely affected.

Current Travel Ban

Portland University alone currently has students that hail from five of the seven banned countries and these are typically Muslim-majority by origin.

If any of these students chooses to go home for holidays in the future, there is a very strong possibility that they will not be able to return in the future.

That will have a devastating effect on not only their potential studying but will also upset the stability of their current classrooms. Students from Syria are in no doubt that their status will be under scrutiny whether they stay or return for whatever reasons.

Eventually this could have a knock on effect for business such as Kijijiautos.com who look to the universities to find future staff. Students that are from counties including Iran, Libya, Yemen and Venezuela face a similar issue to those from Syria although it is thought that they are not as unlikely to be able to return as Syrian students.

Oregon State University

This university has a high percentage of students from the affected countries and OSU officials are advising current and potentially new students on a case by case basis.

Although it is unlikely that this ruling will be overturned, knee-jerk reactions are the last thing that the university would want. More clarity is certainly required and there is currently no need to panic so long as the university and students work together to deal with this major obstacle.

The overall feeling held by those in University positions of authority is that this message simply tells many countries that they are no longer welcome in the US. This country that has the likes of Jeep Wrangler and Coca-Cola as its major brands has always prided itself on being an open and welcome nation.

Future students?

Perhaps one of the biggest problems is what to tell aspiring students from these banned countries? Oregon’s universities have always enjoyed the cultural environment and rich sense of diversity that international students bring to the table.

Recruitment counsellors need to be both lucid and true to aspiring students but that will not send out the message that they wish to hear. How will students being sent home to Iran feel about the new law?

It will only prove to increase the negative feeling that already abounds.

So there you have it, with such a stringent law already in place, what does the future hold for potential students of these 7 countries in the future? It looks very shaky indeed.

Source: Salem-News.com Special Features Dept.