The Trump administration finalized a rule capping F-1 and J-1 student visa stays at four years, ending the long-standing “Duration of Status” approach. Under the new framework, international students must seek DHS approval to extend time in the U.S. and face tighter limits on changing majors, transferring schools, and switching educational objectives. The effective date is set for mid-September, according to the rule’s description, and the changes also restrict whether graduate students can transfer or pursue new objectives without an exemption tied to “extenuating circumstances.” Student groups and higher education policy organizations criticized the change as placing major academic decisions into an already overloaded immigration review system. NAFSA’s executive leadership said the cap is an “unnecessary government intrusion into academic decision-making,” while the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration called the rule “unnecessary and duplicative” and noted added burdens on campuses, students, and federal agencies. The immediate higher education impact is operational: universities will need to adjust advising workflows, documentation practices, and extension support resources as students plan around a hard stay limit rather than program length.