"Are any of your family members involved with the Taliban?" was among the many probing questions the U.S. Consulate asked me when I interviewed for my F-1 visa to study in the United States.

That's not unusual in Afghanistan, where the U.S. and my country have been allies in fighting the Taliban since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks that brought down four planes, destroyed New York's World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon and killed almost 3,000 people.

The answer to the question was no, and six years ago, I came to study in the U.S. at age 17 at a high school in Connecticut on a private scholarship sponsored by a generous couple in New York City. I am now a rising junior at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Not all Afghan students are so lucky. Only 422 came to the U.S. for a higher education last year on F-1 student visas, according to the Institute of International Education in New York. That's a tiny fraction of the more than 1 million international students admitted to the U.S. each year to study.

The effort is not purely educational. The U.S. grants student visas from Afghanistan and other nations as part of a diplomatic effort to share and export democratic ideals and practices.

The application to obtain an F-1 visa is long and asks for personal and family information, proven by photos and documents, including an acceptance letter from an accredited college or university.

In my case, an I-20 form confirmed my enrollment in the high school, and the bank statements of my sponsors proved that I had the financial means to stay in the U.S.

My older sister, who arrived in the U.S. at age 15, helped me with paperwork, and we practiced in a mock interview to help me answer the consulate's questions accurately and succinctly.

I prepared well in advance. Questions can be very challenging: "Are any of your family members involved with the Taliban? Do you have a sponsor? Will you return to your country?"

I was nervous, afraid I'd forget what to say. Because Afghanistan is poor and unstable, the U.S. embassy in Kabul fears that once Afghans leave, they might not return. So the agents are very cautious and serious. I felt I was being investigated, not interviewed.

Many Afghan students failed the interview and were denied an F-1 student visa to come to the U.S. Before me, a young woman was quickly turned down because she seemed unprepared. She said she wanted to study in the U.S. because it was a beautiful country with great weather.

Others I know were on wait lists for weeks and months for background checks. In my case, at the end of my interview, I was handed a card saying my visa would be approved. I was excited and relieved! The visa arrived a week later.

The difficulty of getting a visa depends on where you live. Ahmad Tair, a rising junior and classmate at Trinity, said the process to get a student visa in Saudi Arabia is similar to Afghanistan. Prospective students must fill out an application, provide the right documents, and undergo an intense 15-minute interview in which they are asked similar questions: "Why do you want to study in the U.S.? Will you return to your country? Who is paying your expenses?"

However, Sababa Anber, a classmate from Bangladesh, said her interview was brief and non-threatening. The questions were similar, but the tone was less intense.

"I felt great about my interview," Anber said. "It was literally five minutes probably, or less! The interviewer was super nice."

Students from China, India and Japan also reported stress-free interviews.

"I was nervous to not mess up the process and provide the right documents, because if I did, I would have to do it all over again," said Takanori Tanifuji from Japan, a rising junior.

"But I was confident that I would get a visa and was not nervous during my interview," she said.

Rising senior Aadiv Sheth from India described his interview as "chill."

"My interview was very short, like two to three minutes, but it did sound a little professional," Sheth said.

"I did not feel nervous in my visa interview because as far as I knew, almost every student got a student visa," said Doris Wang, a 2021 Trinity graduate from China, which sent more than one-third of the more than one million international students admitted to the U.S. in the year before the coronavirus pandemic limited travel.

My own country's education system has been disrupted by years of war. My parents have encouraged my sisters and me, not just my brothers, to get the best education possible, despite cultural pressures not to encourage women toward education.

After six years of studying in the U.S., I miss my family and my homeland. I care about my people and want to help them after my studies are complete. When I go home, as I did three years ago, I worry about being granted a visa to return to the U.S. and being barred from completing my schooling.

But I am drawn to a world in American education that has included me in fast-moving globalization. Ideologies here and abroad are competing and changing, challenging people to new and different ways of thinking. I am immersed in these changes and intend to use what I've learned wherever I go.

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.

STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)

U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.

Read the full story here. (January 2025)