Trump visa policies weigh on Columbia journalism program as admissions pause

The Trump administration’s changing visa policies caused a sharp drop in international applications to Columbia University and contributed to the university pausing admissions to one of its journalism programs, four people familiar with the matter said.

The journalism school announced on Thursday it was pausing admissions to its Master of Arts offering to conduct a “critical evaluation,” without giving further details about the reasons.

Jelani Cobb, the journalism school’s dean, said admissions to its Master of Arts program would pause for one year while the school reworked a degree created in 2005, when the “journalism marketplace looked different.”

“The dynamics of visas and all those other kinds of things were part of the consideration,” Cobb told Reuters. Additionally, the department needs time to think through changes to the program, he added.

The connection between the admissions pause and U.S. visa policies has not been previously reported, nor has the length of the admissions pause.

The drop in international applications shows how uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s visa policies is affecting one of the preeminent U.S. journalism institutions, which also administers the profession’s highest U.S. honor, the Pulitzer Prize. The people did not disclose the exact size of the drop in applications.

Last year, the Trump administration temporarily halted new student-visa appointments, then resumed them with expanded screening of applicants’ online activity, saying the checks were needed to identify potential threats to U.S. national security.

Columbia was among the universities targeted by his administration over pro-Palestinian campus protests in 2024. Last year, it agreed to pay over $200 million to settle federal investigations and regain most of its suspended federal funding.

A new rule this year also sought to limit how long foreign students and journalists could stay in the U.S. without seeking extensions, but a federal judge blocked it before it took effect last month, calling its rationale “exceptionally weak.”

Visa difficulties and immigration policy uncertainty have deterred prospective Columbia journalism students from abroad, the four people said, requesting anonymity to discuss its admissions. International students make up roughly half of the M.A. program’s enrollment, the people said.

Kaushik Raj, an Indian journalist admitted to Columbia’s separate M.S. program in data journalism, was denied a U.S. student visa last year, the Intercept reported. His rejection letter said he had not shown sufficient ties to India to establish he would return after his studies, according to the report.

Geared toward mid-career journalists seeking expertise in subjects such as politics, business and science, the M.A. program is smaller than the Master of Science program aimed at students with less journalism experience. The school is not pausing the M.S. program.

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Lower enrollment has prompted changes to the M.A. program, including the combination of science and politics seminars in the 2024-25 academic year, two of the people familiar with the matter said.

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On Thursday, the school also announced a two-year, part-time online M.S. program. The move could allow Columbia to enroll international students without visas, but Cobb said it was unrelated to the M.A. admissions pause because the programs serve different students.

The M.A. pause comes as news organizations grapple with AI’s potential to reshape how stories are produced and found, while falling search traffic piles pressure on their business.

Last year, at least 3,434 journalism jobs were cut in the U.K. and U.S., according to a Press Gazette tracker. The BBC and CBS News have announced layoffs this year.

Some journalists took to social media on Thursday to criticize the M.A. program as too short and too expensive. The course spans nine months and Columbia estimates the cost of attendance at $120,000 before financial aid.

The yearlong M.S. in Data Journalism costs about $180,000.

Two of the people familiar with the matter said the financial assistance made tuition less of a deterrent because most students receive financial aid.

About 80% of the students receive financial aid, including grants, loans, or scholarships from institutional, federal and private funds, according to its website.

Cobb said the journalism school wants to create a new fundraising strategy for the M.A. program and is considering starting a part-time version.