USA news ( Europe Brief News): The Trump administration has revoked Harvard University’s authorization to enroll international students, sparking legal and academic community backlash.
Harvard is consequently prohibited from accepting international students for a limited time. The US Department of Homeland Security claims that Harvard failed to disclose enough information regarding these students’ potential participation in demonstrations (against the war in Gaza).
A dispute between Harvard and the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) led to the historic action.
The department asked for specific details regarding overseas students, such as whether they had participated in demonstrations or faced disciplinary action.
Harvard cited privacy and constitutional rights issues as reasons for only providing a portion of the requested data.
Secretary Kristi Noem stated that the certification was revoked because of the lack of cooperation.
“This administration holds Harvard responsible for encouraging violence, anti-Semitism, and collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party on campus,”
said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and profit from their high tuition rates to supplement their billion-dollar endowments.”
Harvard was given multiple opportunities to do the right thing, the minister said, but refused.
“As a result, their certification for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program has been revoked for failure to comply with the law. Let this be a warning to all universities and educational institutions across the country.”
Thousands of international students are impacted by the action, which also negatively impacts Harvard’s reputation abroad.
The institution issues a warning against a risky precedent: a government using educational access as leverage in ideological or political disputes.
The action fits into the Trump administration’s larger, more aggressive strategy targeting international students and prestigious colleges, which has previously denied visas without providing a justification or a defined procedure.
Harvard is thinking of filing a lawsuit.
What are the implications for Harvard if it loses its ability to enroll international students?
About 6,793 international students, or 27% of Harvard’s total enrollment, pay hundreds of millions of dollars in tuition, grants, and research money each year. Harvard’s revenue streams would be significantly reduced if these students were to leave.
Harvard’s academic diversity and research endeavors are greatly aided by international students. Their absence would impair research partnerships, curtail cross-cultural interactions, and lower the university’s academic reputation internationally.
Harvard’s reputation is strongly linked to its ability to attract talent from around the world. Losing international students would be a strategic blow to U.S. soft power in higher education and would damage the university’s standing as a preeminent worldwide institution.
The legal status of current international students in the United States would be questionable.
