Washington: Donald Trump is at it again, issuing contradictory policy directives about online education and distance learning.
“Virtual Learning has proven to be TERRIBLE compared to In School, or On Campus, Learning. Not even close! Schools must be open in the Fall. If not open, why would the Federal Government give Funding? It won’t!!!” Trump tweeted.
Trump’s statement contradicts views of his Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “It’s very clear that we have an opportunity to embrace distance learning and remote education in a way that two months ago would not have been thought possible,” DeVos said in April. “And it’s happening very well in many places and — out of necessity — many others are getting up to speed.”
Earlier this month, the Trump administration changed its mind about a plan to block for-profit, largely online universities accused of deceptive practices from accessing G.I. Bill benefits. A decision which was immediately slammed, Forbes has reported.
Yet, the Trump administration is using decisions of colleges and universities to switch to online classes as a basis to deny visas to international students. “You don’t get a visa for taking online classes from, let’s say, the University of Phoenix,” White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Wednesday.
Harvard University and MIT have filed suit against the administration over the proposed visa restrictions, and nearly 100 members of Congress have written to the administration demanding the removal of the restrictions. “This new policy would effectively punish international students at colleges, universities, and other institutions that have decided to move their courses online in order to protect their communities from COVID-19,” the letter said. “The proposed policy throws the lives of hundreds of thousands of students, and the operations of hundreds of colleges and universities, into uncertainty just weeks before the start of the fall term, to the detriment of the United States and its institutions of higher education.”