AAU joined ACE and 11 other higher education associations in sending a letter urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to “provide as much flexibility and support as possible for Ukrainian students and scholars currently in the United States, and for students and scholars seeking to leave Ukraine during the current crisis.”
The letter urges the agencies to offer flexibility to Ukrainian students in the United States on F-1 and J-1 visas, as well as to those completing F-1 Optional Practical Training or J-1 Academic Training. The letter asks the agencies to accommodate Ukrainian students and scholars who may be close to the end of their programs and may not be able to immediately return home. In addition, it asks for accommodations for those students whose financial situations have changed and who may need to work while they undertake their studies in the United States. “Our colleges and universities and the U.S. higher education community at large stand ready to be a resource for displaced international student and scholars, just as we always have during the pandemic and previous political upheavals and military conflicts across the globe,” the letter notes.