Since the Department of Homeland Security mandated the creation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, international student fees at universities across the nation have increased.
In response to concerns that terrorists may use student visas to remain in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security implemented SEVIS in order to track the activities of international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities.
Because of the high cost of maintaining the SEVIS database, however, universities nationwide have increased international students' fees.
In April 2003, the University followed suit when the Board of Visitors adopted a resolution to charge international students an additional $50 per semester. The international students services fee went into effect during the fall 2003 semester.
At some universities, international students have reacted in opposition to a raise in fees directed only toward a certain group of students. At the University of Massachusetts, 200 of the University's 1,600 international students refused to pay the University's $65 international students fee billed this month, according to the Associated Press.
Administrators have justified similar increases in certain students' fees at the University.
"Insofar as the question of why this fee is being passed on to a certain subset of the student population, it is due to the fact this is a service that is being provided by the University, in compliance with federal law, for this specific set of students," said Rebecca Brown, director of the International Studies Office at the University. "It is not uncommon for different groups of students that are receiving different services to be charged different sets of fees."
Despite objections from international students across the country, the University's international student population has voiced little opposition to the new $50 international students services fee, Brown said.
The main goal of the new fee is to continue to aid international students in maintaining their legal status while studying at the University, she added.
"The Department of Homeland Security has adopted a zero tolerance policy, and the University of Virginia is doing everything possible to work with our student population to avoid any difficulties," Brown said.
As a result of the international services fee the ISO has hired a new advisor, a law school graduate with a specialization in immigration, and is in the process of expanding other services to international students. These services include tax and immigration seminars and the recent purchase of an online tax preparation program that is available to all University non-immigrants, Brown said.
Although the fee provides funding for services, some University students said they would rather avoid additional fees.
"I'm kind of upset about the international student fee because we already pay out-of-state tuition," said James Forbes, a third-year College student from South Africa. "With the $50 fee we get put out even more."
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