Over the course of 2025, the Trump administration has taken a series of actions that impact higher education institutions across the U.S., with a particular focus on elite universities such as Harvard.
Escalating Efforts to Curb International Students
This spring saw the revocation of many, many international students’ legal status. According to international education non-profit NAFSA, nearly 1,300 international students and scholars had their “visas revoked or their records deleted on SEVIS,” the U.S. government database covering nonimmigrant students and exchange visitors.
Although eventually restored, the move (and consequent fear of deportation) drove some to leave the U.S., and the government to expand “the grounds for terminating international students’ legal status going forward.” When asked to comment on the crackdown on student visas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio remarked that, “We do it every day, every time I find one of these lunatics.”
NAFSA described the revocations as lacking transparency, both in terms of their rationale and in determining what exactly the students in question were charged with.
At a similar point in time, on April 11th, Harvard University received a set of demands from the Trump administration. The administration’s requirements included a shutdown of the University’s DEI programs, the introduction of a government-approved third party assessor to determine the level of “viewpoint diversity” amongst students and staff at the school, and an overhaul of Harvard’s admission process to ensure no hostile students were admitted.
Harvard defied the demands; the government retaliated with a $2.2 billion federal funding freeze.
The Latest of the Administration’s Actions
Visa Interviews Paused
In a move “the latest in the Trump administration’s crackdown on international students,” the State Department paused any new scheduling of visa interviews for foreign students at the end of May.
The suspension, which does not apply to already-scheduled interviews, was described by the State Department as a preparatory move; one that made way for incoming guidance on expanded social media vetting for international students to be issued. While not specific in the object of these searches, a cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio implies that the screening would attempt to battle antisemitism and ensure that terrorists do not enter the U.S.
These social media requirements are not the first of their kind: increased scrutiny of visa applications, including “vetting of social media activity” was introduced by Trump’s first administration and maintained during Biden’s. Earlier versions of this policy targeted “returning students” who might have been involved in protests “against Israel’s actions in Gaza.”
Now, as of June 4th, Trump has signed a Proclamation that suspends the entry “of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs” at Harvard University. This same Proclamation compels Marco Rubio to “consider revoking existing F, M, or J visas for current Harvard students who meet the Proclamation’s criteria.”
Listing its reasons for targeting Harvard University in particular, the White House cited the school’s:
- Persistence “in prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in its admissions, denying hardworking Americans equal opportunities by favoring certain groups, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against its race-based practices”;
- Development of “extensive entanglements with foreign adversaries, receiving more than $150 million from China alone”;
- Failure to “adequately address violent anti-Semitic incidents on campus, with many of these agitators found to be foreign students.”
The Proclamation will be reassessed for extension after 90 days.
Harvard’s Ability to Sponsor Student Visas Revoked
The June 4th Proclamation is not the first Harvard-specific attack from the Trump administration.
On May 22nd, Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) certification was abruptly revoked, reversing its ability to enroll international students and researchers. The effect was described by Harvard as “immediate and devastating,” affecting over 7,000 visa holders.
“With the stroke of a pen,” the University wrote in its Complaint, “the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission.
“Effective immediately, most of Harvard’s thousands of enrolled F-1 and J-1 visa students… will have little choice but to secure transfer to another school or risk being rendered without lawful status in the United States. Effective immediately, Harvard can no longer sponsor F-1 and J-1 visa holders for its upcoming summer and fall terms, despite having admitted thousands.” And, “effective immediately, countless academic programs, research laboratories, clinics, and courses supported by Harvard’s international students have been thrown into disarray.”
For now, the action has been blocked by a federal judge.
What Comes Next?
The Trump Administration’s Next Moves
On Wednesday, May 28th, Trump proposed a cap on international students at Harvard University: 15%.
“We have people [who] want to go to Harvard and other schools,” he claimed. “They can’t get in because we have foreign students there.”
While the effort to block Harvard from enrolling new international students is halted for now, it may not remain so. It’s possible that the government “could win here,” said Aram Gavoor, an associate dean at George Washington University Law School and a former Department of Justice attorney.
Harvard Fights Back with the First Amendment
Harvard University’s resistance against the administration’s restrictions has been praised by its students, who view the government’s actions as a “worrying” curtailing of educational and intellectual freedom.
In its Visa Complaint, the University describes the government’s attempts to restrict international enrollment and “control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the “ideology” of its faculty and students” as “a blatant violation of the First Amendment.”
Due to the abrupt manner in which the restrictions were announced and the consequent extent of disarray, Harvard explains that the revocation also violates “the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act.”
The First Amendment guarantees free speech for entities like Harvard. If the Department of Homeland Security’s motivations for revoking Harvard’s certification are found to be ideologically grounded, this will be deemed as a violation of the First Amendment.
Several of the administration’s attacks on Harvard may prove problematic for the White House’s case here, since they heavily imply that Harvard has been targeted for the viewpoints of its students and faculty. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s May 22nd letter to Harvard regarding student visa eligibility, for example, described Harvard as promoting “pro-Hamas sympathies” and employing “racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies”; while Trump’s post on Truth Social claimed that Harvard hired “almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and ‘birdbrains’.”
Impact Going Forward
Extended pauses in visa scheduling and reductions in the number of international students would have myriad effects. Impact ranges from delayed enrollment to dwindling budgets, which often rely heavily on the tuition paid by international students—especially in the wake of federal funding cuts.
The repercussions extend beyond the budgetary. Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond explains that “closing America’s doors to international students doesn’t just harm those applicants; it undercuts the very principles that have made U.S. business schools world leaders.”
Limiting international students in U.S. universities will dramatically alter those educational environments. Restricted access to global perspectives will limit the values of open-mindedness and innovation on which higher education thrives. Doing so risks stripping the U.S. of its status as a “premier destination for ambitious, high-achieving students from across the globe;” a reputational change that could affect international ambition to study in the U.S. for years to come.
It is against this shift in the landscape of U.S. higher education that Harvard fights. “Without its international students” the school’s Complaint states, “Harvard is not Harvard.”
