People walk on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 15. © Reuters
TOKYO — The revocation of Harvard University’s right to enroll international students by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has shocked students across Asia, with experts warning of a prolonged impact on willingness to choose the U.S. as their destination.
A Japanese graduate student at Harvard is anxiously questioning his ability to attend next week’s graduation ceremony peacefully, following news on Thursday that raised concerns about his future visa status. The student, who is in his late 20s and passionate about tackling social issues, chose Harvard for its open and liberal school culture and diverse array of courses.
“We were anticipating that this sort of thing might happen,” he told Nikkei Asia regarding Trump’s moves, but he said he was surprised by how quickly it escalated. “I had expected things to move more gradually,” he added.
On Thursday, Homeland Security announced it was terminating Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, effective for the 2025-2026 academic year. “Harvard’s leadership has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators … and otherwise obstructing its once-venerable learning environment,” it said in the statement.
With the certification revoked, Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students, and existing students must transfer to another institution or risk losing their legal status.
This will put more than 10,000 international students and foreign national researchers at risk, as of the current academic year. The number of international students stood at around 5,600, making up over a fifth of the total student population. Chinese students and scholars represented the largest group, with 2,126 individuals, followed by India with 788. The total for South Korea was 434 while Japanese nationals accounted for 260.
A Chinese student who has been planning to enroll at Harvard Business School this fall, was cautiously optimistic. “I think the matter may take quite some time before it can be resolved, considering the style of the Trump administration as we have seen from the constantly changing tariff policies,” said Luke, who preferred not to disclose his last name. “My current plan is to trust the school, wait quietly, maintain a positive attitude towards the final result, and continue with other preparations.”
A student from Jakarta studying in Boston said, “I think as a foreign student, all of us are pretty anxious about the development. I’m still not sure whether Harvard will apply for an injunction to delay the enforcement of the policy, and how long the injunction will last.”
Multiple Asian students from Harvard declined to comment to Nikkei Asia due to potential “complications” regarding their legal status, seemingly fearful of the potential for further reactions from the administration targeted at their nationality.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, who also studied at the Harvard Kennedy School, told reporters on Friday that Tokyo is “closely monitoring the situation with great interest.” Hayashi said his government will examine the details of the new measure and “take all necessary steps, including engaging with the U.S. side to minimize any potential impact on Japanese students.”
Disha Roy Choudhury, Imperial Overseas Education Consultants’ Kolkata branch head, told Nikkei Asia that Trump revoking Harvard’s authority to enroll international students “will definitely create distress and worry in students’ psyche, especially Indian students,” who were looking forward to joining the university. “We have already started receiving students’ and parents’ panic calls,” she added.
The move by the Trump administration highlights the recent clash with one of the world’s most prestigious universities and a seeming crackdown on what it perceives as “liberal” education organizations.
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” said the statement, quoting Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. The department stated that the recent move was due to the school failing to provide information on foreign students that the department had previously requested.
The U.S. crackdown on Harvard could also have implications for students with financially weaker backgrounds, said Vinayak Rao, co-founder of Gradmonk Consultants, which provides consultancy services regarding undergraduate degrees in Ivy League colleges, among others. Well over half of Indian students get some form of financial aid at Harvard, and a lot of these funds are specific to the university.
“The U.S. is one of the few university ecosystems that provides need-based financial aid, as opposed to the likes of Australia and New Zealand, which mostly offer merit-based financial aid,” Rao said. Still, parents are increasingly looking at universities in the latter geographies as the U.S. is now deemed too “volatile”, he added.
Jason Corso, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan, warned that the recent push by the U.S. government could have long-lasting effects on the competitiveness of its universities to attract international talent.
“There are aspects of the overall agenda that will return to a new normal [after Trump leaves]. … Harvard will be able to admit international students in the future,” said Corso. “Yet, there are other aspects that will have a longer impact, such as international students’ willingness to risk coming to the U.S. and having troubles with immigration.”
Akshay Chaturvedi, CEO of Leverage Edu, a study abroad consultancy in New Delhi, India, said, “This move is definitely going to rattle students contemplating studying in the U.S., and consequently impact the country’s position as a talent magnet.
The Japanese Harvard student echoed Corso’s concerns. “The reason the U.S. has long led the academic world is because of its strong funding and institutional prestige,” he said. “But if studying abroad means having to live in uncertainty, that gravitational pull will inevitably weaken.”
“Personally, I think it’s a great university. It would be heartbreaking if future students began to avoid Harvard because of this.”
The article appeared in the asia.nikkei