131 Mara students bound for the US to be redirected to other countries
Mara chairman Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the students would be placed in the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
When contacted, he said 78 students were being redirected to the UK, 28 to Canada, 22 to Australia and three to New Zealand.
He confirmed that all 131 students had received conditional offers from 16 universities, all of which are ranked among the world's top 100 in the QS World University Rankings.
Among the eight UK institutions that extended conditional offers are Imperial College London, which is ranked second globally, University College London and the University of Edinburgh.
In Canada, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta also extended conditional offers to the students.
In Australia, the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, the Australian National University and Monash University have extended offers.
On May 28, AFP reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had ordered the suspension of student visa processing.
This move, according to an internal cable, came as the Trump administration intensified its vetting of applicants' social media activity.
It marked the latest move targeting international students, a major source of revenue for US universities, following Rubio's cancellation of hundreds of visas and efforts to prevent Harvard University from admitting non-American students.
On June 1, Asyraf announced that Mara would halt the sending of sponsored students to the US this year.
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