Impact of Trump admn's ban on Harvard University from enrolling foreign students: From stand-off to consequences

US President Donald Trump's administration banned Harvard University from enrolling international students, escalating its standoff with elite colleges to unprecedented levels on Thursday. The US revoked Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification.

Appearing on Fox News, Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, said the administration is considering blocking international enrollment at other universities. “This should be a warning to every other university to get your act together,” Noem reportedly said.

Why did Trump admn impose the ban on Harvard?

The US' Department of Homeland Security took this 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.’”

Secretary Kristi Noem said, "It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments."

"Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law," Noem added.

In April, Noem had demanded Harvard submit records of any violent or illegal activity by foreign students by April 30 or immediately lose certification under the federal government’s student visa program. 

Impact of ban on foreign students

The latest move in the current standoff means that foreign students can no longer attend the university.

As per the new order, existing international students must transfer to other schools or lose their legal permission to be in the US, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday.

The move could significantly affect the university, which enrols nearly 6,800 international students, most of them in graduate programs, the Associated Press reported. Those students may now have to scramble to figure out their next steps.

At Harvard, almost 6,800 students — 27 percent of the entire student body — come from other countries, up from 19.6 percent in 2006, according to the university’s data.

Impact on Massachusetts economy

In addition to Harvard itself, a ban on international enrollment also threatens to have implications for the broader Massachusetts economy and a regional ecosystem that thrives off the university’s existence, Bloomberg reported.

International students don’t just pay tuition to Harvard; they also spend money on restaurants and other activities and many of them stay in the area to work at the state’s prestigious hospitals, research institutions and biotechnology companies.

Does US government have authority over Harvard's enrollment?

The US 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.

The DHS said on Thursday it would remove Harvard. The program gives colleges the ability to issue documentation to foreign students admitted to their schools.

Then, the students apply to obtain visas to study in the United States.

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, students who have yet to complete their degree need to transfer to another university, Noem said, or they'll lose their legal permission to remain in the US.

When can the ban on Harvard be revoked?

Noem said in a letter to Harvard that it could regain the Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification before the upcoming academic year if the university provides information, including disciplinary records, video footage of protest activity and records relating to illegal activity by students over the past five years.

She said Harvard had to provide the information within 72 hours.

Financial pressures for Harvard

The blockade on international student enrollment will compound the financial pressures for Harvard. 

According to Bloomberg, the Trump administration has frozen more than $2.6 billion of Harvard’s funding and cut off future grants in an increasingly contentious standoff over the school’s handling of alleged antisemitism on campus and government demands for more oversight.

Trump earlier also called for Harvard to lose its tax-exempt status, a move that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school has cautioned would have “grave consequences for the future of higher education in America.”

Harvard's response

Harvard said the action is unlawful and undermines the school’s research mission.

“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University — and this nation — immeasurably,” a spokesperson was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. 

“We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community," the spokesperson said.

Trump-Harvard standoff

Harvard's battle with the Trump administration dates to early April.

Harvard, the university that has produced 162 Nobel prize winners, became the first elite college to refuse to comply with the US government's demands to limit pro-Palestinian protests and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Harvard's refusal led to a series of escalating actions against it. Various federal agencies, including DHS and the National Institutes of Health, cut their grant funding to Harvard.

This significantly impacted research projects conducted by faculty.

Harvard has sued the administration, seeking to end the grant freeze.