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“We are offering first semester study abroad as a pilot in London that keeps students on track without losing time (on their) degrees,â€� UA Vice President Jenny Lee told the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Board of Regents Thursday.

“And our global micro campuses allow students to obtain a U.S. degree closer to home — no visa or SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) record necessary to obtain those degrees,â€� Lee continued. She is UA vice president for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ International and dean of international education.

Addressing the Trump administration’s numerous actions targeting international students, Lee told the regents, “Federal actions have, are and will negatively impact university engagement for all of our institutions.�

“This past spring, the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of SEVIS records has disrupted the legal and accurate standing of thousands of students across the United States,� Lee continued. “We know that most of these cases were , but the uncertainty has certainly created doubts for prospective students who may think twice about choosing the United States for their education.�

“In addition, as we’ve been following the news — changing every day — the federal government has recently imposed , and this is affecting our newly admitted students across 19 countries. Combined with ongoing visa barriers, this is presenting, across the United States, a broader systemic challenge, one that can lead to a steady decline of international students over time,� she said.

UA spokesperson Mitch Zak later said, in response to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ questions, that UA doesn’t have a London campus yet. He didn’t answer how or when the study abroad option will begin.

Zak also declined to answer the Star’s questions on more details, including if the study-abroad option will be for all undergraduate and graduate international students from all degrees, and what the first-semester tuition and scholarship system would be.

Nevertheless, Thursday’s presentation of the UA’s “proactive� action plan was among the first public discussions UA administrators have provided on dealing with effects of Trump administration actions, after months of declining to comment on the issue.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security terminated student visas and SEVIS records of numerous international students in the U.S., which led to students being detained, arrested or deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. While lawyers nationwide said most of the visa and SEVIS terminations were related to minor to major traffic violations, a few students around the country who participated in were also detained and arrested.

After many lawsuits were filed by affected international students, the Trump administration began reversing the SEVIS terminations in late April after federal judges nationwide ordered them to.

Then, last Monday, President Donald Trump ordered a travel ban that bars nationals of 12 countries from entering the U.S. and restricts those from seven additional countries. This came two about two weeks after Secretary of State announced the U.S. would start to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.�

Lee said UA administrators are “prioritizing clear communication around federal guidance and compliance, SEVIS issues, visa issues� and have a quick response protocol on the matter.

“We proactively engage in outreach, and we offer coordinated support� for international students, said Lee. “We offer dedicated well-being services. We have an embedded enrollment counselor who specializes in the needs of our international students.�

The UA’s international student community stretches across 64 countries, in every continent including Antarctica, said Lee, saying it has 15 micro-campuses in 12 countries, sponsored research in 14 countries and more than 80 study abroad programs in 25 countries. She also said the UA is looking into expanding research and internship opportunities abroad for its international as well as domestic students.

The UA has refused to disclose the number of international students whose visas or SEVIS records were terminated.

But the presentation Thursday by new Provost Patricia Prelock’s team showed UA’s concern about dropping enrollment numbers, combined with a separate “demographic cliff� already faced by universities.

Kris Wong Davis, UA vice president of enrollment management and dean of undergraduate admissions, said the “demographic cliff� combines with uncertainties in international student recruitment, increased competition in higher education, and people questioning the value of higher education.

Also part of this situation are K-12 academic preparation gaps after the pandemic, student unwillingness to take on loan debt, and the possible loss of federal need-based funding sources.

All these factors combined have led to the “reshaping of application pools,â€� she said, adding that the UA is paying close attention to everything happening on the national level so it can support ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s low-income students and help them attain higher education.

While international student enrollment is in danger right now, the UA is also increasingly dependent on non-resident students rather than resident students for recruitment, the regents were told.

In 2017, the ratio of non-resident to resident students on the UA campus was 15,581 to 25,966. In 2025, the ratio stands at 21,806 to 24,735.

“State support for higher education peaked in 2007-2008 at a time when roughly 30% of our students were out-of-state,� said Regent Fred DuVal.

“The slide of state investment and the growth of out-of-state students are almost directly correlated for obvious reasons — those were replacement dollars for the dollars we’ve lost from state support,� he said, referring to the higher tuition rates paid by out-of-state students.

“But, we have a fiduciary duty to do better by ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ students and it’s hard because we lose $5,000 a year per ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ student. While we are doing what we must to make the balance sheet work, (we need to) do what we should, which is, try and move the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ (student) numbers as aggressively as we can,â€� DuVal said at Thursday’s meeting.

UA President Suresh Garimella said he’d like every eligible, well-prepared student to be admitted to the UA and that he thinks they do pretty well in this cohort.

“We just need to get much better at students starting at a community college and then, (once) they’ve done well, to sort of move on,� he said. “I think there are multiple ways to get to that, but I think access to a university like ours means access for those who are eligible or who can be made to be eligible.�

Prelock, who started at the UA May 19 and whose employment contract was unanimously approved by ABOR Thursday, said there’s a need to develop “seamless pathway programs� for students to transition from community colleges to the UA.

“The other thing we have a responsibility for, and I’ve started to talk to our dean of education is, ‘How do we work with K-12 to support the preparation of students so they can be successful in college?’ And, that’ll be another priority I have,� Prelock said.