An international education leader at Berkeley said the change “could cause students to reassess their plans to study in the United States.”
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The Department of Homeland Security sent colleges and universities a memo last week limiting international students’ abilities to complete internships, The Wall Street Journal reported. International students have long been allowed to participate in internships through a program called curricular practical training, but now they can only do so if the employer has a partnership with their college and if all students in their program are required to complete an internship to graduate, the memo said.
DHS warned that institutions that do not comply with the new policy could lose authorization to enroll international students.
“Schools and employers should consider themselves on notice: under President Trump, abuse of this generous system will no longer be tolerated,” a spokesman for DHS told the Journal.
International education leaders said the policy change could make the United States a less attractive destination for international students. That’s on top of other Trump administration policy changes, including new regulations limiting how long international students can stay in the country, which experts say are encouraging international students to seek higher education elsewhere. In 2025, the number of new visas issued to international students dropped by 23 percent.
“The absence of the opportunity to engage in learning experiences through internships could cause students to reassess their plans to study in the United States,” said Ivor Emmanuel, director of the Berkeley International Office at the University of California, Berkeley. “International students are aware of the value that employers place in students gaining hands-on experience that is directly linked to the academic major.”
