More Temple students lose visas, $3 million in federal funding halted

Susan Snyder and Jeff Gammage, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 15, 2025

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PHILADELPHIA — Several more students at Temple University have had their visas revoked by President Donald Trump’s administration, and the university has received 14 stop work orders or terminations of federal grants totaling $3 million, the school’s president announced.

Temple’s Office of Global Engagement has been in regular contact with these individuals, who are presently consulting with their attorneys to determine their next steps,” President John A. Fry said in a message to the campus Monday night.

Temple earlier this month announced that a student whose visa was revoked chose to self deport. At that time, it was the first case of a local student being affected in visa revocations by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that have now impacted more than 1,000 students nationwide. Some of the revocations are tied to pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, but others are not. A University of Minnesota student had his visa pulled because of a drunken driving infraction, according to news reports.

Rowan, Rutgers, and the University of Pennsylvania are among the other universities locally that have reported student visa revocations.

The university did not immediately respond to a question on how many additional students have been affected and said the school would not give more details, such as the home countries of the students, out of concern for their privacy.

“I know that the news of these revocations is unsettling not just for the impacted individuals but for our entire community,” Fry said.

The university has no reports of ICE agents coming on campus, Fry said.

Temple loses $3 million in funding

Also in the announcement, Fry noted the loss of federal research funding, mostly from the Department of Health and Human Services — marking the latest local example of Trump stripping funding from universities.

The federal government has paused $175 million in funding at the University of Pennsylvania for allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on the women’s swim team in 2021-22, and the school also said it stands to lose $250 million in research funding.

Penn announced a hiring freeze and other measures last month to cope with the potential loss of funding.

Temple also has enacted budgetary measures, including a review process for all hiring and nonessential travel, to deal with the loss of funding and potential impacts from tariffs, Fry noted in a separate message to the campus last week. The Department of Energy’s reduction in indirect cost reimbursement rates to 15% for all grants would “adversely impact” Temple research.

The university began the year with a projected $85 million deficit in its $1.2 billion operating budget, Fry said, though that has been reduced through the elimination of staff vacancies, use of reserves and other measures.

The university also will be looking more closely at capital projects and has asked departments to reduce purchasing where possible.

“We understand that uncertainty is difficult and challenging,” Fry said. “Please know that we remain committed to consistent communication as we guide Temple through this complex landscape.”