Many U.S. law schools that saw a drop in LL.M. enrollment during the pandemic say they now expect a major increase in the number of foreign students.
Law school administrators called it the Perfect Storm: A White House already known for its unwelcoming policy toward certain immigrant groups was combined with a worldwide pandemic that canceled international flights, closed U.S. consulates and triggered a ban on entry to the U.S. It was extremely difficult — and in many cases impossible — for students to obtain visas for most of 2020 and 2021.
This led to a drop in LL.M. enrollment at many law schools across the U.S., including Fordham University School of Law in New York.
“Our enrollment is now flat after dropping 20% between the fall of 2020 and the fall of 2021,” said Sal Longarino, director of international services at Fordham. “New York City is the largest hub in the nation for foreign students, and anything that happens here is usually duplicated around the country.”
Longarino is the principal designated school official (PDSO) for Fordham’s F-1 program, the most popular and appropriate avenue by which international students can gain authorization to study in the U.S.
“About 95% of our international students obtain and retain F-1 status,” he said.
Foreign students were already facing challenges before the pandemic hit, Longarino said, with new immigration policies that had already begun to affect enrollment.
Starting in January 2017, former President Donald Trump issued a number of presidential proclamations, widely referred to as the Muslim ban, which prevented certain nationalities from entering the U.S.
As New York City immigration attorney David Katona of Katona & Associates said, these rules “effectively stymied student visa issuance to nationals from banned countries and likely had a spillover effect to visa issuances in general.”
Longarino noted that the pandemic made international travel even more complicated.
“Every country had its own quarantine policies,” he said.
Fordham Law isn’t the only school that’s seen a large drop in foreign student enrollment.
Read the full story in the 2022 issue of The International Jurist magazine.
