StudyTravel – Opinion… from the News Editor, 17.07.25

In the USA, it was probably inevitable that there would be a delay in visa processing after a three-week pause in visa interview appointments in May and then the implementation of new social media vetting guidelines in June that will take additional time and resources.

As the new academic year draws close, international education organizations in the USA are panicking that some students won’t get visas in time, or that worse still they might give up on their plans altogether, and they are calling for urgent action to address the backlog.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers with major research universities in their constituencies have also called on the State Department to get on top of the delays, particularly for India.

It has been a bruising few months, which has included deportations, visa revocations and a high-profile battle with the country’s most famous institution that shows no sign of ending. Now would be a good time for the government to show the sector a little bit of support with extra resources for visas, otherwise its reputation could take further damage.

International education has also been a political football in Australia, and for much of the last year students have been blamed for a rise in inflation and housing prices. A report this week from the Reserve Bank of Australia highlights the benefits that students bring to the economy, consumer demand and the labour force, and they argue that students inevitably had some impact but that this was minimal compared with other factors.

The post-Covid boom was unprecedented but it was a one-off after the border closures. The government over-corrected with all its tinkering on visas and policy, which we saw recently in the latest visa data.

And on government impact, we see further fall-out from the UK’s implementation of VAT on independent school fees as Mount St Mary’s College has closed with immediate effect.

Matthew Knott, News Editor of StudyTravel Magazine.

It may be that some of the closed schools are blaming VAT as a quick excuse and may have been in trouble before – Mount St Mary’s College openly spoke of its pre-existing financial difficulties in its statement on the closure.

But the VAT policy is clearly a final nail in the coffin for some and has prevented recovery efforts, particularly as this is restricting domestic enrolments which represent the majority of income for most schools.

International students were not the target of this policy, but have been caught up in the mess and this could cause wider reputational damage.

Thankfully, there are some destinations that are changing policies to welcome more international students. Germany is one of those, and a student survey released this week by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) shows what attracted students and that almost two-thirds of them intend to stay and work after graduation.

Elsewhere this week, WEP announced new inbound high school programs in Spain; Inspired Education Group unveiled stunning new boarding facilities in The Bahamas; and language school accreditation body Eaquals launched new professional development videos for language teaching professionals.