The Trump administration has ordered the termination of the Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, effectively barring the institution from enrolling foreign students.
- •Harvard enrolled 6,751 international students from 146 countries in fall 2024 with students from China, Canada and India making up the largest groups, collectively accounting for 40% of the international cohort.
- •The order also means that existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status.
- •This is the latest move in a dispute between the institution and the Trump Administration, which says that the university’s leadership has ‘created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals.’
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said “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. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) terminated $2.7 million in DHS grants for Harvard declaring it “unfit to be entrusted with taxpayer dollars.” Secretary Noem also demanded Harvard provide information about the criminality and misconduct of foreign students on its campus.
The feud has been escalating for months, beginning with the blocking of US$400mn in federal funding to Columbia University after a Department of Justice (DOJ) Taskforce assessed how 10 schools had dealt with anti-Semitism on campus.
The latest move may also be seen from the prism of the broader onslaught by the Trump Administration on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
