CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has revoked Harvard University’s authorization to enroll international students, effective for the 2025-2026 academic year.
This action compels current foreign students to transfer to other institutions or risk losing their legal status in the United States. The administration has also indicated the possibility of extending this crackdown to other colleges and universities.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directed the department to terminate Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, according to an official statement. Noem accused the esteemed university of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
Harvard University swiftly responded, denouncing the Trump administration’s move, which impacts thousands of its students, as illegal and retaliatory. The university asserted that the decision marked a significant escalation in the administration’s campaign against the Ivy League institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has become a prominent target for President Trump.
The Department stated that this action followed Harvard’s refusal to comply with Noem’s demand for information regarding certain foreign student visa holders at the university.
During the 2024-2025 academic year, Harvard enrolled approximately 6,800 international students, representing 27% of its total student body, according to university data. In 2022, students from China constituted the largest group of international students, numbering 1,016, followed by students from Canada, India, South Korea, Britain, Germany, Australia, Singapore, and Japan. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately issue a response to a request for comment.
“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enrol foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments,” Secretary Noem stated. In a letter addressed to Harvard, Noem provided the university with “the opportunity” to regain its certification by submitting a range of records pertaining to foreign students within a 72-hour timeframe, including any video or audio recordings of their protest activities over the past five years.
Harvard University labeled the government’s action as “unlawful” and affirmed its “fully committed” stance on educating international students. “This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission,” the university declared in a statement.
Congressional Democrats voiced their condemnation of the revocation, with U.S. Representative Jaime Raskin describing it as an “intolerable attack on Harvard’s independence and academic freedom,” characterizing it as government retaliation for Harvard’s previous resistance to President Trump.
President Trump’s administration had already frozen approximately $3 billion in federal grants to Harvard in recent weeks, prompting the university to file a lawsuit to reinstate the funding. In a separate legal matter concerning the administration’s efforts to terminate the legal status of numerous foreign students across the U.S., a federal judge ruled on Thursday that the administration could not end their status without adhering to proper regulatory procedures. The immediate impact of this ruling on the action against Harvard remained unclear.
During an interview on Fox News‘ “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” Secretary Noem, when questioned about potentially extending similar measures to other universities, including Columbia University in New York, stated, “Absolutely, we are. This should be a warning to every other university to get your act together.”
President Trump, a Republican who assumed office in January, had pledged a comprehensive immigration crackdown. His administration has sought to revoke student visas and green cards of foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian protests.
He has also embarked on what he considers an essential effort to reform private colleges and schools nationwide, asserting that they promote anti-American, Marxist, and “radical left” ideologies. Harvard has faced specific criticism from President Trump for its hiring of prominent Democrats in teaching and leadership roles.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday the termination of an additional $60 million in federal grants to Harvard, citing the university’s alleged failure to adequately address antisemitic harassment and ethnic discrimination.
In a legal complaint filed earlier this month, Harvard countered that it is committed to combating antisemitism and has implemented measures to ensure its campus is safe and welcoming for Jewish and Israeli students.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration advocacy group, characterized the action against Harvard’s student visa program as one that “needlessly punishes thousands of innocent students.”
He commented on Bluesky, a social media platform, stating, “None of them have done anything wrong, they’re just collateral damage to Trump.”
