U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced late last evening that the government is beginning to revoke visas from Chinese students studying abroad in the United States.

The announcement came a day after Rubio halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for international students as the department prepares guidelines for increased vetting of their activity on social media.

The decision adds a wave of uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of Chinese students studying in the country at colleges and universities across the United States, including right here on Long Island.

Several local schools have strong international programs, including Stony Brook University. According to updated data provided by the university today, over roughly 1,500 students at Stony Brook are from China. That group makes up about one-third of the school's international student population.

Other Long Island schools also have robust international programs, according to university data.

Hofstra University has an Asia Center that promotes the recruitment of international students to study on campus, Adelphi University was named to a list last year of schools that are best for international students and Long Island University hosts nearly 1,000 international students hailing from more than 90 countries worldwide.

A spokesperson for the State University of New York, which oversees five college campuses on Long Island, including Stony Brook, took aim at the federal policy change.

A SUNY spokesperson wrote: "International students represent nearly 6% of SUNY students, and these federal actions are a threat to enrollment at SUNY and colleges and universities across the country. We are continuing to monitor federal actions and working with our partners in state government to analyze any potential impact on SUNY’s extraordinary students and our groundbreaking researchers."

A spokesperson for Stony Brook told News 12: "We are closely monitoring this rapidly evolving situation and remain committed to supporting all of our students."

News 12 also reached out to spokespeople for Hofstra, Adelphi and Long Island University for comment, but hasn't heard back at this time.