Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | April 21, 2025 | wbjournal.com BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer T he letter said everything. In the aernoon of April 10, Clark University in Worcester published a message signed by its top three executives confirming 12 of its international students had been targeted by the President Donald Trump Administration and had their student visas revoked. e letter, addressed to the Clark community, said the university had been blindsided by the revocations; was working with the impacted students to know their rights and continue their studies; was encouraging all international students to keep up with their documentation; had joined 85 other universities in a lawsuit challenging the revocation of student visas; and underscored to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) the importance of international students. "To all who have come to Clark from around the world – students, faculty, and staff – know that you are welcome and appreciated, and that we are here to support you," said the letter signed by President David Fithian, Provost John Magee, and John LaBrie, dean of graduate studies and international programs. e message from Clark, where 35% of the student body is international students, followed a similar one issued by Worcester Polytechnic Institute Grace Wang earlier that morning, aer WPI discovered four of its students had their visas revoked. While the Clark and WPI letters were designed to assuage fears and offer support in troubling times, they both accentuated the importance of international students to the economics of colleges and universities, as well as broader communities like Worcester, which has about 3,000 international students at its four-year universities. Even though they make up a relatively small portion of student bodies, international students typically pay disproportionately higher tuition and have helped fill gaps in declining enrollment among U.S. high school graduates. "I know from my own experience the transformative power of international study. WPI has long provided a welcoming academic home for students and scholars from around the world. eir perspectives make WPI a more connected, more creative, and more intellectually rigorous university," Wang wrote in her April 10 letter. Yet, the Trump Administration's actions likely will have short- and long- term impacts on international students wanting to study in the United States, said Angel Pérez, CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, based in Virginia. "High school counselors across the world are saying to me that their students have never been more afraid to enroll at an American institution," Pérez PHOTO | COURTESY OF WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE International loss e revocation of 16 student visas at Clark & WPI amid the national anti-immigrant crackdown will have long-term ramifications for the Central Mass. higher education industry Grace Wang, president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute David Fithian, president of Clark University International students in Worcester Worcester's four-year, degree-granting institutions are home to about 3,000 international students. Total Percent Worcester Total international international Undergraduate school students students students tuition Clark University 3,853 1,357 35.2% $59,680 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 7,584 1,160 15.3% $61,790 College of the Holy Cross 3,126 125 4% $67,200 Worcester State University 5,772 about 120 2.1% $17,866* UMass Chan Medical School 1,489 117 7.9% $69,412** *Non-Massachusetts resident tuition and academic fees **Non-Massachusetts resident tuiltion for the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Note: Assumption University didn't respond to WBJ's request for international student figures. Sources: Individual institutions said. "What we're going to start seeing is a brain drain in America, and that is devastating for our future." The importance of international students Central Massachusetts colleges and universities are now in the process of not only navigating international students fears, but bracing themselves for just how much those students' absences could impact their economic standing, said Chelsie Vokes, associate attorney at Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey, who serves as outside general and employment counsel for a number of Massachusetts schools. Because most foreign citizens are ineligible for federal or state financial aid, they oen pay full tuition for enrollment at U.S. schools, allowing for discounted cost-of-study for their U.S.- citizen counterparts. For example, Clark University charges an annual tuition of $59,680 before fees and other costs like room and board. International students end up paying close to 100% of that cost, but other students receive an average financial aid package of $44,951. And 70% of first-year Clark students receive some degree of need-based financial aid. "In some respects, the international community is subsidizing the scholarships and the reduction in tuition that domestic students are experiencing," said Vokes. A decline in the number of international students won't result in a higher number of U.S. students going to these schools, said Vokes. "It doesn't really work like that," she said. "A lot of schools are already fighting over the relatively small pool [of U.S. students], and it's only decreasing because we're seeing that drop off in enrollment that many Worcester Polytechnic Institute is home to 1,160 international students, including four who had their visas revoked. Chelsie Vokes, associate attorney at Bowditch & Dewey

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