On July 6, 2020 the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement published the "SEVP modifies temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online courses during fall 2020 semester". The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced modifications Monday to temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to publish the procedures and responsibilities in the Federal Register as a Temporary Final Rule.

Temporary exemptions for the fall 2020 semester include:

Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States. The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.
Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools operating under normal in-person classes are bound by existing federal regulations. Eligible F students may take a maximum of one class or three credit hours online.
Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools adopting a hybrid model—that is, a mixture of online and in person classes—will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online. These schools must certify to SEVP, through the Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” certifying that the program is not entirely online, that the student is not taking an entirely online course load this semester, and that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in their degree program. The above exemptions do not apply to F-1 students in English language training programs or M-1 students pursing vocational degrees, who are not permitted to enroll in any online courses.

Source: https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/sevp-modifies-temporary-exemptions-nonimmigrant-students-taking-online-courses-during

Under the modified SEVP, F-1 and M-1 students with valid student visas would be forced to leave the United States if their college or university was not offering in-person classes. 

International students pay the highest tuition to colleges and universities and shifting to an online-only syllabus does not reduce and shrink the economic burden of the high tuition costs. Forcing international students to pay these high costs while also forcing them to leave the country makes no sense and is unfair on many levels.

With the Covid-19 pandemic still spiking, the opening of in-person classes is unsafe and unnecessary given the current situation. These new SEVP modifications force universities to choose between opening in-person classes even if it is not safe or lose their International student body who account for a total of $45 Billion USD that is contributed to the US economy.

This means that if Texas State University decides to follow their COVID-19 strategy, which is to go online for Summer I and Summer II, for the Fall 2020 semester, international students who are attending Texas State University and who cannot maintain a full-course load (Undergraduate level 12 credit hours, Graduate level 9 credit hours; both levels are allowed to take up to 3 credit hours max. fully online towards full-time enrollment) have to leave the United States and discontinue their studies.  Those students will have to leave the United States after being here for quite some time, establishing lives, friendships and/or families, and without being able to finish the reason they came to the United States, which was to get a U.S. college degree. Especially during the current global pandemic a majority of international flights, specifically coming from the United States are being canceled due to travel restrictions. So students cannot return to their home countries because of that.

One could make the argument that online classes can be taken from everywhere in the world. We ask those people to consider different time zones, internet accessibility as far as censorship, internet accessibility as far as electricity and/or technology, and internship/practical/research requirements of degrees. 

Since hybrid classes do not count as an online class, because there is an in-person interaction, we recommend that Texas State University considers hybrid class options rather than the completely online option in order to support their student body with a focus on their international students. By adapting more hybrid options and not a full and completely online option for the Fall 2020 semester, Texas State University can not only ensure that their students are able to attend their school, not transfer out to a different school or drop out completely but also engage in social distancing and appropriate actions regarding COVID-19. 

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