Trump Visa Policies Cut Applications at Columbia Journalism School, Pausing Master’s Admissions for a Year

WASHINGTON: Growing uncertainty around the Trump administration’s visa policies and immigration rules has driven a sharp drop in international applications to Columbia University’s journalism school, forcing it to pause admissions to its Master of Arts programme for one year.
Dean Jelani Cobb told Reuters that the MA programme will undergo a critical review during the pause as the school looks to redesign the degree, which was launched in 2005. He said visa dynamics were among the factors considered, and that the institution also needs time to assess how the programme should evolve. Reuters said the link between the admissions slowdown and US visa policies had not been previously reported. People familiar with Columbia’s admissions process told the agency that international students make up roughly half of MA enrolment.
Last year, the Trump administration temporarily halted appointments for new student visas before resuming them with expanded screening of applicants’ online activity. The administration said the extra vetting was meant to identify potential national security threats.
Columbia was among the universities that faced pressure from the administration after pro-Palestinian campus protests in 2024. The university later agreed to pay more than $200 million to settle federal investigations and restore most of its suspended federal funding. Separately, a rule introduced this year sought to limit how long foreign students and journalists could remain in the US without applying for an extension. A federal judge blocked it before it took effect, calling its justification unusually weak.
According to The Intercept, Indian journalist Kaushik Raj, who was admitted to Columbia’s separate MS programme in data journalism, was denied a US student visa last year.
The MA programme is largely designed for mid-career journalists seeking deeper expertise in fields such as politics, business and science. It is smaller than Columbia’s MS programme, which is aimed at students with less journalism experience. Low enrolment had already led to changes in the MA curriculum, including a combination of science and politics seminars during the 2024-25 academic year. Columbia has also announced a new two-year, part-time online MS programme. While such a course could allow international students to study without a US visa, Cobb told Reuters it was unrelated to the MA admissions pause.
The review comes as journalism schools and news organisations face wider challenges, including artificial intelligence, declining search traffic and job cuts across the industry. Columbia estimates the nine-month MA costs about $120,000 before financial aid, while its one-year MS in data journalism costs about $180,000. The school’s website says roughly 80 percent of students receive some form of financial aid.