- More than 27% of Harvard’s students are from overseas.
- Decision was announced by Homeland Security Secretary.
- Varsity refused to comply with federal demands on admissions.
NEW YORK: In a dramatic move, US President Donald Trump’s administration has stopped Harvard University from enrolling foreign students.
The decision affects more than a quarter of the university’s student body and marks a serious clash between Trump and one of America’s most famous schools.
Trump says Harvard refused to follow rules and allowed a campus environment he claims is unsafe for Jewish students and supportive of radical views.
Trump is furious at Harvard – which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners – for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.
“Effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) Programme certification is revoked,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a letter to the Ivy League institution, referring to the main system by which foreign students are permitted to study in the United States.
Last month, Trump threatened to stop Harvard from enrolling foreign students if it did not agree to government demands that would put the private institution under outside political supervision.
“As I explained to you in my April letter, it is a privilege to enrol foreign students,” Noem wrote.
“All universities must comply with Department of Homeland Security requirements, including reporting requirements under the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme regulations, to maintain this privilege,” she said.
“As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege.”
More than 27 percent of Harvard’s enrolment was made up of foreign students in the 2024–25 academic year, according to university data.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
