Columbia University’s journalism school has suspended admissions to one of its major postgraduate programmes for a year, as changes to US visa policies under the Trump administration contribute to a decline in applications from international students.
Four people familiar with the matter said uncertainty surrounding visa requirements had discouraged prospective students from outside the United States from applying to Columbia’s Master of Arts journalism programme.
The journalism school announced on Thursday that it would pause admissions to the MA programme while conducting what it described as a “critical evaluation” of the degree. It did not initially provide detailed reasons for the decision.
Jelani Cobb, dean of the journalism school, said the admissions suspension would last one year as the institution reviews and redesigns a programme that was established in 2005.
Cobb explained that the journalism industry had changed significantly since the programme was created and said the school needed to reconsider its structure.
“The dynamics of visas and all those other kinds of things were part of the consideration,” Cobb told Reuters.
He added that the school also needed time to assess other changes to the programme.
The relationship between the decline in international applications and US visa policies had not previously been reported, nor had the one-year duration of the admissions pause.
The four people, who spoke anonymously because they were discussing the admissions process, said visa complications and uncertainty over immigration rules had discouraged prospective international students from considering Columbia’s journalism programme.
International students account for about half of the MA programme’s enrolment, according to the sources.
The changes come amid a broader tightening of US immigration and visa policies under President Donald Trump. Last year, the administration temporarily suspended appointments for new student visas before resuming them with additional screening of applicants’ online activities.
The administration said the expanded checks were intended to identify potential threats to US national security.
Columbia has also faced heightened scrutiny from the Trump administration following pro-Palestinian protests on its campus in 2024.
The university later agreed to pay more than $200m to settle federal investigations and restore most of its suspended federal funding.
Another policy introduced this year sought to restrict the length of time foreign students and journalists could remain in the US without applying for extensions. However, a federal judge blocked the rule before it took effect last month, describing the government’s justification as “exceptionally weak.”
The reduction in international enrolment has already affected the structure of Columbia’s MA programme. Two people familiar with the matter said some courses had been combined during the 2024-25 academic year, including seminars covering science and politics.
The journalism school, which is also responsible for administering the Pulitzer Prize, is now expected to use the admissions pause to reassess the programme and determine how it should be structured for the changing journalism industry.
