In August 2025, the U.S. Department of State reported that over 6000 international student visas have been revoked due to violations of U.S. law and overstays since the start of President Trump’s term.
These violations included assault, driving under the influence, burglary and “support for terrorism.”
The agency declined to comment on what “support for terrorism” detailed but said around 200-300 visas were revoked for “terrorism done under INA 3B,” a code that states applicants cannot “endorse or espouse” terrorist activity or persuades others to.
This move is preceded by President Trump’s battle to ban foreign students from enrollment at Harvard University and stricter regulations for foreign visas.
One such regulation is increased social media vetting, a move criticized by some as a possible means to silence opinions not shared by the Trump administration.
Argus staff reached out to Illinois Wesleyan University officials for comments on how the Trump Administration’s policies could affect the university if actions were taken against IWU’s international students.
WGLT, Illinois State University’s NPR member radio station, reported in August that Illinois Wesleyan had 82 international students last school year, and was expecting 14 new international students for the 2025 school year.
But, as of August 1, only three of the 14 had visas accepted with less than a month before classes would start.
Admissions wasn’t able to disclose any information regarding the matter.
But Illinois has certainly been affected.
AP News reported that nine students from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and five from Northern Illinois University have had visas revoked since March 2025,
When asked about the financial impact on IWU of an exodus of international students, the financial aid office shared that none of IWU’s international students are full-pay (meaning they pay 100% of their tuition with no scholarships/grants.)
Still, if an average student pays around $30,000 annually after financial aid, there would be a shortfall of over $2.5 million without IWU’s international students.
While the 6000+ revoked visas are only a small piece of the over 1.1 million international students studying in the United States in 2025, the Trump administration’s target on student visas could still have ramifications on Illinois Wesleyan, as it tries to quietly back itself out of the spotlight after the Department of Education’s investigations into alleged “antisemitic discrimination and harassment” last spring.
