How the Trump administration’s move will affect Harvard’s international students
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration escalated its standoff with Harvard University on Thursday, revoking the school’s ability to enroll international students.
The government told Harvard’s thousands of current foreign students that they must transfer to other schools or they will lose their legal permission to be in the U.S. That decision is currently on hold, a federal judge ruled Friday, pending a lawsuit.
The move could significantly affect the university, which enrolls about 7,000 international students, most of them in graduate programs. Those students may now have to scramble to figure out their next steps.
The Department of Homeland Security took this latest step because Harvard failed to comply fully with requests to produce records about its foreign students, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a letter. Noem accused Harvard of “perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies and employs racist ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ policies.’”
Harvard said the action is unlawful and undermines the school’s research mission.
Here’s what to know about how this decision affects international students and what legal authority Noem has to take the step.
Does the government have authority over Harvard’s enrollment?
The U.S. government has authority over who comes into the country. The Department of Homeland Security oversees which colleges are part of the Student Exchange and Visitor Program. On Thursday, DHS said it would remove Harvard. The program allows colleges to issue documentation to foreign students admitted to their schools. The students need those documents to apply to obtain visas to study in the United States.
Where does the legal challenge stand?
Harvard filed a lawsuit early Friday morning, seeking to stop the Trump administration from revoking its ability to host international students. A federal judge in Boston granted a temporary restraining order that would prevent the government’s decision from taking effect. While the order stands, Harvard’s international students can maintain their legal status, and Harvard can continue to enroll foreign students while the case proceeds.
A hearing is scheduled for next week on the case.
Will Harvard’s current international students be allowed to graduate?
Students who completed their degrees this semester will be allowed to graduate. Noem’s letter said the changes would take effect for the 2025-2026 school year. Harvard’s Class of 2025 is expected to graduate next week.
However, if courts uphold the government’s decision, students who have yet to complete their degree will need to transfer to another university, Noem said, or they’ll lose their legal permission to remain in the U.S.
What percentage of Harvard’s student body is affected?
Harvard sponsors more than 7,000 people on a combination of F-1 and J-1 visas, which are issued to students and to foreigners visiting the U.S. on exchange programs such as fellowships. Across all the schools that make up the university, about 26% of the student body is from outside the U.S.
But some schools and programs, by nature of their subject matter, have significantly more international students. At the Harvard Kennedy School, which covers public policy and public administration, 49% of students are on F-1 visas. In the business school, one-third of students come from abroad. And within the law school, 94% of the students in the master’s program in comparative law are international students.
Will admitted students be able to enroll at Harvard in the fall?
No, not unless the government changes its decision or a court steps in. For now, Noem said Harvard could restore its status as a host institution for foreign students if it complied with a list of demands within 72 hours. Those demands include requests for a range of records, such as disciplinary records for international students, plus any audio and video recordings of protest activity.
Harvard previously had failed to provide sufficient records, Noem said. The university said it did send the government information, including “thousands of data points concerning its entire F-1 visa student population.”
Has the government ever done this before?
The government can and does remove colleges from the Student Exchange and Visitor Program, making them ineligible to host foreign students on their campus. However, it’s usually for administrative reasons outlined in law, such as failing to maintain accreditation, lacking proper facilities for classes, failing to employ qualified professional personnel — even failing to “operate as a bona fide institution of learning.” Other colleges are removed when they close.
“I’ve never seen it revoked for any reason besides the administrative issues listed in the statute,” said Sarah Spreitzer, vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, an association of universities. “This is unprecedented.”
How else has the Trump administration targeted Harvard?
Harvard’s battle with the Trump administration dates to early April. The storied institution became the first elite college to refuse to comply with the government’s demands to limit pro-Palestinian protests and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies. That kicked off a series of escalating actions against Harvard. Various federal agencies, including DHS and the National Institutes of Health, have cut their grant funding to Harvard, significantly impacting research projects conducted by faculty. Harvard has sued the administration, seeking to end the grant freeze.
The administration first threatened to revoke Harvard’s ability to host international students back in April. Trump also has said Harvard should lose its tax-exempt status. Doing so would strike at the school’s ability to fundraise, as wealthy donors often give to tax-exempt institutions to lower their own tax burdens.
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AP Education writers Collin Binkley and Cheyanne Mumphrey contributed.
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