As their bank accounts dwindle, some international students say they have had to turn to food banks for help. Others are couch surfing in the family homes of their friends but do not know how long they will be welcome. Those who rushed to fly home before international borders closed are not sure they will be able to come back.

“My world is shattering,” said Elina Mariutsa, a Russian student studying international affairs and political science at Northeastern University whose parents sold an apartment and borrowed money from friends to pay for her previous semesters of college.

She is all but certain that, with the Russian ruble’s recent rapid devaluation amid the current global economic collapse, her family will be unable to pay the $27,000 bill for her final semester of college — let alone help her with living expenses now.

“I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to graduate. Right now we definitely can’t pay for the last semester, and it’s literally just four courses left,” she said.

Universities, which often receive a substantial share of their budgets from foreign students, said they moved quickly to help international students by opening a limited number of dorms when possible, flying students home in some cases and lobbying the federal government for support. New York University, which has more foreign students than any college in the country, created emergency grants available to international students.