When in effect, the scholarship designated Florida residency to qualified students and $500 per semester for tuition purposes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s definitely an attack toward immigrants, regardless of whether they\u2019re legal or illegal,\u201d a USF student, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Crow\u2019s Nest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The student received an email in September announcing that her LAC scholarship funds may be revoked in spring of 2026 due to an anticipatory decision by the Board of Governors about the proposal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The student also said that her friend, a LAC scholar of a different nationality, received an email stating their scholarship was revoked as of this fall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c[USF] used to be very open about how many international students they had and how you, as an international student, would feel comfortable on their campus because of how diverse it is,\u201d the student said. \u201cIt\u2019s just interesting how they tell you all of this so you can apply and pay for the tuition and study here. And then, so easily, they just change things.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The notice came around two weeks before tuition deferment, which was highly stressful, the student recalled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
With no international student advisor stationed at USF St. Petersburg and only seven walk-in days<\/a> at LPH 320 this fall for international student support, the student emphasized that the university\u2019s outreach and communication efforts are especially important during this time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs a state university, USF follows all state laws and BOG regulations, policies and guidance,\u201d a USF spokesperson said in a statement to The Crow\u2019s Nest. \u201cThe university will share updates as needed with any impacted students and will continue to work with all students to make them aware of scholarship and financial aid opportunities that may be available.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n USF is not the only Florida university that has stopped offering the LAC scholarship.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among the other 11 institutions under the state university system, students at The University of Central Florida<\/a> and The University of Florida<\/a> reported losing their LAC funds as far back as April, months before the repeal proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the BOG meeting<\/a> on Sept. 11, Lynn Nelson, associate vice chancellor of Academic Affairs and Innovation, provided one explanation for the board\u2019s proposed repeal: compliance with federal law. Nelson did not specify which federal law.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n The State University System of Florida told The Crow\u2019s Nest that the proposed repeal is still undergoing the regulation development procedure, and future developments will be discussed in upcoming BOG meetings.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The next BOG meeting will be held on Nov. 5 at USF Tampa.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Broader federal developments came months before the proposal, such as President Donald Trump\u2019s administration cutting grants<\/a> for colleges with a large minority student presence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Additionally, the U.S. State Department revoked<\/a> more than 6,000 international student visas in August, citing violations of the law and \u201csupport for terrorism\u201d among reasons for cancelling visas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Another international student at USF who chose to remain anonymous told The Crow\u2019s Nest that he is aware that USF informs international students of broader changes like the BOG\u2019s proposals and decisions, but it could benefit from more communication between departments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Additionally, the best thing the university could have done in light of the U.S.\u2019s recent \u201cimmigrant-antagonizing policies\u201d was stand its ground, he said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The student wishes that USF\u2019s campus police didn\u2019t agree to a partnership with ICE<\/a> in April \u2013 but he is aware of the university\u2019s limitations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a public university, and it is connected to the governor\u2019s office \u2013 and the governor is very lenient on whatever Washington is doing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard because I wish it could do more, but I also know it\u2019s hard for them to do so.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Months after the agreement, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) posted images on its Instagram story of U.S. Border Patrol vehicles they spotted at USF Tampa\u2019s Crescent Hill parking garage and the Marshall Student Center during a career fair on Oct. 22.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n SMS claimed it was informed that Border Patrol was invited to USF for the career fair.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though state and federal agendas have impacted international students, the student believes that international students will be able to endure the changes. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can speak for my Latin American community,\u201d the student said. \u201cWe have seen these things before. We know these patterns and we\u2019ve called them out. So, that sadly means we know how to survive them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But survival happens either through silence or by leaving the country for safety, the student said. He believes those outcomes will harm the United States, as the country will lose \u201cbrilliant minds who\u2019ve been promised this land as a land of opportunity and freedom.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite the current sociopolitical climate affecting higher education, the student encourages international peers to pursue their education.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter what happens, we will move forward,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re brilliant, we\u2019re witty and there\u2019s a warmth to us that the entire planet needs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 132
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/a>
Written by: Jasmin Parrado<\/a> on October 22, 2025.
Last revised by: Alisha Durosier<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Makenna Wozniak | The Crow\u2019s Nest By Jasmin Parrado International students who are recipients of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-17028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}