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French business schools are quickly tracking or extending application deadlines for international students who are afraid to be caught on the Trump administration curb on visas.
Fouziya Bouzerda, head of Grenoble Management School, encouraged students who were unable to study in the US to consider the French Alps.
“If you are an international student affected by the suspension of visa interviews in the US, we are here to help you continue your academic journey without interruption,” she writes on LinkedIn.
“We have decided to quickly track applications for students who are already enrolled in business schools in the US.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered consulates overseas to suspend the appointment of visa applications for students while the government is working on new, more stringent screening guidelines.
Léon Laulusa, director of the ESCP Business School in Paris, said that around 100 French universities and the finest Grandes écoles are discussing coordinated steps to assist foreign students already in the United States if the Trump administration confirms that they will close their doors.
“We are now considering pushing forward the application deadline, which is normally in May, to allow people to apply,” he told the Financial Times, adding that ESCP is “very happy that they welcomed people who are unable to attend US universities.”
The group has been in contact with the French government, and there will be potential announcements over the next few days, he said.
Approximately two-thirds of those registered with the ESCP are foreign students who are attracted to the MBA and executive MBS programs offered on Paris and five other campuses in the European capital.
US President Donald Trump’s broader campaign against US universities includes cutting research funding and putting pressure on scientists working in areas such as climate change and vaccine research.
He accused certain anger of focusing on elite institutions such as Harvard and Columbia, limiting freedom of speech and academic freedom.
The Trump administration had tried to ban Harvard from recognizing international students, which make up about a quarter of student groups, but the university is challenging its move in court.
Trump and his allies seized pro-Palestinian protests on campus to assert that the university is not adequately protecting Jewish students.
Laurusa said there was an understanding of Washington’s approach in the French academic community. “Look at all the Nobel Prize winners from overseas that the US has attracted. Scientific innovation should be the goal, and it has no borders,” he said.
European countries are looking to benefit from the brain drain of top researchers affected by Trump’s federal funding cuts in fields such as medicine, energy and social sciences.
European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen proposed that the 2025-27 500 million euro financial package “make Europe a magnet for researchers.” French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to provide 100 million euros with such an incentive, and the UK has floated a similar scheme.
“We reject the dictatt, which is made up of the government that you can say you can’t study this or that,” Macron told a press conference with von der Leyen this month.
Applications from international students are beginning to rise at Sciences PO in Paris. The university said it had an increase of 26% in its master’s program from the previous year and an 8% in its bachelor’s degree class. The school offers courses in political science and policy, law and journalism.
“When you apply for study, you’ve been committed for four or five years, so of course you’re looking for the safest place,” Science Director Louis Vacy told French Culture Radio on Wednesday. “We are one of the best and undoubtedly safe institutions.”
Manuel Muniz, a provost at IE University in Madrid, which includes a large business school, said Washington’s move was against the trends of students seeking more international experience through inter-national degrees.
He said the US decision not only created “real doubts” about whether his students could attend Harvard Summer School, but also led to uncertainty over planned exchange programs with American universities in the fall.
“These students will be student visa holders for the duration of the US, so that’s what we’re considering,” he said.
90% of students are IE from outside of Spain, and Muniz said the authorities have not changed the application deadline as there was a “rolling” admission process.
Additional Reports by Bernie Jopson of Madrid
