--- title: UMass Bars Iranian Nationals from Science and Engineering Courses description: The university says it's complying with U.S. law; the State Department disagrees canonical: https://time.com/3713161/umass-iran-science-engineering/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-18T13:55:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:30:20.034Z article:section: U.S. og:title: UMass Bars Iranian Students from Science Programs og:description: Decision greeted with harsh criticism og:url: https://time.com/3713161/umass-iran-science-engineering/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43e436d66f082cf8/69877fb5cd1bba53df6f5443/umass-amherst.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Students At UMass Amherst og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: UMass Bars Iranian Students from Science Programs twitter:description: Decision greeted with harsh criticism twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43e436d66f082cf8/69877fb5cd1bba53df6f5443/umass-amherst.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # UMass Bars Iranian Students from Science Programs  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 18, 2015 1:55 PM CUT  Students on the campus of UMass Amherst in 2014. Students on the campus of UMass Amherst in 2014.Jonathan Wiggs—The Boston Globe/Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 18, 2015 1:55 PM CUT The University of Massachusetts [is coming in for criticism](http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/13/umass-amherst-stops-admitting-iranian-students-graduate-engineering-sciences-programs/Y7IExi3rrNOe5ika3IdiHK/story.html "undefined") for its decision earlier this month [to stop admitting Iranian nationals to certain science and engineering programs](http://www.umass.edu/gradschool/sites/default/files/iranian%5Fstudent%5Fadmissions%5F2%5F2015.pdf "undefined"), in what the university described as it merely complying with U.S. law. To prevent Iran from creating a nuclear weapons program, the U.S. passed a law in 2012 that bars Iranian citizens from getting visas to study in the U.S. if they plan to return to Iran and work in nuclear energy or related fields, the Boston _Globe_ reports. But that appears to be different from what the university has imposed on its Amherst campus, according to the State Department. “U.S. law does not prohibit qualified Iranian nationals coming to the United States for education in science and engineering,” an official said in a statement to the _Globe_ [and NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/umass-bans-iranian-nationals-science-classes-stirs-backlash-n307806 "undefined"). “Each application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. We will reach out to UMass Amherst to discuss this specific decision.” The university’s decision, posted on Feb. 6, outraged many students on campus. “We always felt like an integral part of the university community,” Shirin Hakim, a recent Iranian-American graduate, told NBC. “Now we’re just kind of confused. We want an explanation for all this, and we don’t think it should be tolerated, because it’s clearly discriminatory against Iranian nationals.” \[[_Boston Globe_](http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/13/umass-amherst-stops-admitting-iranian-students-graduate-engineering-sciences-programs/Y7IExi3rrNOe5ika3IdiHK/story.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3713161/umass-iran-science-engineering/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3713161/umass-iran-science-engineering/"},"headline":"UMass Bars Iranian Students from Science Programs","datePublished":"2015-02-18T13:55:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:30:20.034Z","description":"Decision greeted with harsh criticism","url":"https://time.com/3713161/umass-iran-science-engineering/","keywords":["Education","Iran"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43e436d66f082cf8/69877fb5cd1bba53df6f5443/umass-amherst.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43e436d66f082cf8/69877fb5cd1bba53df6f5443/umass-amherst.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Students At UMass Amherst","caption":"Students on the campus of UMass Amherst in 2014.","creditText":"Jonathan Wiggs—The Boston Globe/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3713161/umass-iran-science-engineering/","name":"UMass Bars Iranian Students from Science Programs"}}]}] ```