Locked out by a shutdown: Government freeze disproportionately affects students at Maryville College from other countries
When a government shuts down, the images that usually come to mind are closed national parks, furloughed federal workers, and delayed paychecks. But far beyond Washington, an invisible crisis is quietly unfolding – one that doesn’t make headlines, but touches classrooms, labs and students across the world. For thousands of international students hoping to begin or continue their studies in the United States, the shutdown has transformed what should have been an exciting journey into a test of patience and uncertainty.
The student visa system is a delicate web of coordination among multiple federal agencies and it is undeniably complex even on a good day. The Department of State runs the embassies and consulates that issue student visas, the Department of Homeland Security manages the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (known as SEVIS), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) handles applications for work authorization and status changes once students arrive. Even the Department of Labor plays a role when students transition to employment-based visas after graduation. When Congress fails to fund the government, parts of this network seize up, and the consequences ripple outward faster than most people realize.
Some offices, such as USCIS, are largely funded by the application fees they collect and can therefore remain partially operational. But embassies, consulates, and certain State Department functions rely on congressional appropriations to keep the lights on. When that funding halts, so do interviews, document processing, and the quiet machinery that turns acceptance letters into entry stamps. In some parts of the world, visa appointments that were scheduled weeks in advance have been postponed or canceled, leaving students to wonder whether they will make it to campus in time for spring semester.
Universities across the United States are feeling the strain as well. International students contribute nearly 40 billion dollars to the U.S. economy every year and form an essential part of academic and cultural life on campuses nationwide. When they cannot arrive, programs lose vital energy and global perspective. Smaller colleges and public universities – many of which rely on international enrollment for financial stability – are beginning to worry about long-term effects on admissions and reputation.
The irony is that some parts of the immigration system continue to operate almost normally, while others are paralyzed. Because USCIS is fee-funded, most applications for Optional Practical Training, visa extensions, or changes of status are still being processed, though at a slower pace. But the Department of Labor’s online systems for wage certifications and labor condition applications – necessary for students moving into work visas like the H-1B for specialty occupations – may be unavailable. Social Security offices, often affected by shutdowns, can delay issuing identification numbers students need to work legally. Each small delay accumulates into weeks or months of lost time and uncertainty.
The emotional toll is harder to measure but impossible to ignore. For many international students, studying in the United States represents years of effort, financial sacrifice, and family pride. A single administrative pause can derail those plans, forcing students to defer admission or abandon the dream altogether. Universities are doing what they can – extending enrollment deadlines, allowing remote participation, and reassuring incoming students that they are not forgotten – but such gestures can only soften the edges of a much larger systemic problem.
The United States has long been seen as the heart of global higher education, a place where intellectual ambition meets opportunity. But a government shutdown sends a different message: that even the pursuit of knowledge can become collateral damage in political gridlock. Other nations are already stepping into the vacuum. Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia have streamlined their student visa systems in recent years, marketing themselves as reliable alternatives for international scholars.
What happens in Washington rarely stays in Washington. When the gears of the federal government grind to a halt, their noise echoes in embassies from New Delhi to Nairobi, in university offices from Boston to Berkeley, and in the hearts of students whose futures depend on a simple stamp of approval. The shutdown may be temporary, but for many of those students, its impact is not. Each lost semester represents a postponed dream, a delayed discovery, a classroom seat left empty.
The world’s brightest minds still want to come here. The question now is whether America’s systems – and its politics – can let them in.
Abhilasha Ghosh (‘27) is a political science major with a criminal justice and sociology double minor. She is passionate about increasing civic engagement among students on campus, and is involved in SGA, Conduct and Appeals board and Asian Students Alliance. Additionally, she is a Bonner Scholar, an academic mentor and a 2025-26 Newman Civic Fellow, and she is from India! This column covers topics ranging from local and state government to national news, and anything in between.To respond to this column in The Highland Echo and offer your political perspective, reach out to Editor-in-Chief Maddux Morse at [email protected].