The Trump administration has vowed to revoke the visas of thousands of international students across the United States, which may have implications for Cornell’s large international student body and its athletics.
Cornell’s initial international student total on its website added up 7,898 international students enrolled in Fall 2024. However, the University has since updated that totals to add up to 6,943 — a discrepancy of nearly 1,000 students.
No public explanation was given for the change, but a University spokesperson told The Sun that there “was an issue with the data feed” that caused the website “not to update properly”.
The changes included cutting out 10 countries from the listing of international students and altering over 98 countries previously listed number of international students. Most notably, Chinese students’ total dropped from 3,447 to 3,286 — a 161 student difference. The listed India students dropped by 58 and Korea’s total fell by 118.
Cornell enrolled 6,943 international students in the Fall of 2024, with 43 percent of those students being from China — one of Trump’s targeted countries.
While Cornell has released guidance for its international students in regards to scheduling visas, some students feel that there is no exact guidance to the problem.
Jasmine Shi ’28, an international student from China enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that it is “clearer than ever” the difference between international and domestic students in the U.S. She expressed concerns about the Trump’s administration’s new policy.
“There are freedoms that students who are citizens of the U.S. are able to exercise that international students are not, simply because of concern over our legitimacy to stay in the U.S.,” Shi said.
She also said that she has not received much direction from the University and has relied on communication with friends, family and news outlets to understand what Trump’s plan is moving forward. Shi said that the University emailed her asking her to complete a survey about her plans for the summer and her “needs around immigration and support.”
“I appreciate the University listening to the students’ perspective, but an email clarifying the situation would have been nice,” Shi said.
Shi still has a year remaining on her visa so if she is unable to renew it, she plans to remain in the United States until she graduates from Cornell in roughly three years. Despite Shi's concerns that the University has not provided enough direct guidance, she remains hopeful that the universities will be more proactive to support international students as policies evolve.
“I still have faith in the U.S. education system and the ability of universities to protect [their] students,” Shi said.
Many sports at Cornell may also be impacted by the Trump administration’s attempts to revoke international students’ visas, as at least 25 varsity sports this academic year had international students listed on their rosters. 12 out of 29 members of the men’s ice hockey team, 15 out of 27 members of the women’s ice hockey team and eight out of 16 members of the men’s squash team are international students.
When asked about how international student athletes would be impacted by Trump’s new policies, a University spokesperson for Cornell Athletics wrote in an email statement to The Sun that “Cornell Athletics appreciates the commitment of more than 100 international students” on varsity teams.
“Cornell is committed to supporting our international and immigrant community affected by changes in the federal landscape and we in Athletics are working closely with Global Cornell’s International Services team, university leadership, and legal counsel to monitor developments and ensure our student-athletes have the guidance and support they need,” wrote the Cornell Athletics spokesperson.
The email from the University spokesperson stated that Cornell is “aware” of the news surrounding the status of international students and are “monitoring the situation closely.”
“We provide and update guidance to current and incoming students on the International Services website,” the University spokesperson wrote.
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
