Donald Trump has revoked Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students in a major escalation in the White House’s rumbling battle with American universities.
As the US President’s threats came to fruition on Thursday, thousands of current Harvard students will now have to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status and leave the country.
The Trump administration informed Harvard about their decision following back-and-forth correspondence about the legality of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) request for access to the college’s records, the New York Times reported.
The move is likely to spark a legal challenge from Harvard as the Trump administration continues to pressure universities to fall in line with the president’s agenda.
Harvard, along with a swathe of other colleagues, is a bastion of antisemitism and ideological indoctrination, according to Trump and his allies.
The DHS said Harvard had created an unsafe campus environment by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to assault Jewish students on campus.
Without offering any evidence, it also accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, saying it hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024.
“This means Harvard can no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the agency said in a statement.
The dispute stems from a previous request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in April, demanding that Harvard turn over information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could otherwise lead to their deportation.
US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem listens during an Oval Office meeting (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)In a letter to Harvard on Thursday, Noem said the school’s sanction is “the unfortunate result of Harvard’s failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.”
Noem gave Harvard a 72-hour deadline to produce a trove of records on foreign students and regain their ability to host foreign students.
The administration revoked Harvard’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which gives the school the ability to sponsor international students to get their visas and attend school in the United States.
Part of a wider campaign
Six other universities have been targeted by the Trump administration so far and singled out for punitive funding cuts.
Brown University, Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, Pennsylvania and Princeton are all set to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in funding.
Critics fear the Trump administration is attempting to stifle academic freedom, while the US President’s supporters say their conservative views have been marginalised at some higher education institutions.
Trump has long campaigned on an anti-elite platform, with the prestigious universities he has targeted tending to espouse the very values he has publicly stood against, including affirmative action admissions programs and the proliferation of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on campuses.
Harvard has specifically been threatened with a $2.2bn (£16bn) freeze in multi-year grants to the university, along with a $60m (£45m) contract.
Last week, the college said it was dedicating $250m (£186m) of their own funds to support researchers after the federal grant freeze.
The Republican president says he wants to introduce sweeping changes to private colleges and schools across the US that he says foster anti-American, Marxist and “radical left” ideologies.
He has criticised Harvard in particular for hiring prominent Democrats to teaching or leadership positions.
Trump has also called for Harvard and other non-profit organisations to lose their tax-exempt status, despite federal law prohibiting the president from “directly or indirectly” telling the US’s tax-collection service to conduct specific tax investigations.
Around 6,800 foreign students are enrolled at Harvard’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, accounting for more than a quarter of their student body. Most are graduate students, coming from more than 100 countries.
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Read MoreLosing those students will also significantly impact the university’s finances. Students pay a minimum of $59,320 (£44,000) for a year of tuition, rising to nearly $87,000 (£65,000) when room and board are included. International students are also likely to pay more than students who are US citizens.
Harvard called the action “unlawful” and said it was working to provide guidance to students.
“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the university – and this nation – immeasurably,” said Jason Newton, the university’s director of media relations.
“We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.”
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