The Trump administration has rescinded Harvard University's authority to enroll international students, escalating tensions with the Ivy League institution. The Department of Homeland Security claimed, without providing evidence, that the university enabled “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to target Jewish students on campus and accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.
"This means Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status," the department said in a statement.
Harvard enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, accounting for more than a quarter of its student body. Most are graduate students, coming from more than 100 countries.
Harvard called the action unlawful and said it's working to provide guidance to students.
"This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission," the university said in a statement.
The dispute stems from an April 16 request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The letter demanded that Harvard turn over information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could otherwise lead to their deportation.
In a letter to Harvard on Thursday, Noem said the school's sanction is "the unfortunate result of Harvard's failure to comply with simple reporting requirements." It bars Harvard from hosting international students for the upcoming 2025-26 school year.
Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces a trove of records on foreign students within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage, of foreign students participating in protests or dangerous activity on campus.
"This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus," Noem said in a statement.
The administration revoked Harvard's certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which gives the school the ability to sponsor international students to get their visas and attend school in the United States.
Noem's sanction opens a new front in the Trump administration's battle with Harvard. The nation's oldest and wealthiest university, Harvard was the first to openly defy White House demands to limit pro-Palestinian protests and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The federal government has responded by cutting $2.6 billion in federal grants to Harvard, forcing it to self-fund much of its sprawling research operation. President Donald Trump has said he wants to strip the university of its tax-exempt status.
It also tapped into concerns that congressional Republicans have raised about ties between U.S. universities and China. Homeland Security officials said Harvard provided training to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps as recently as 2024. As evidence, it provided a link to a Fox News article, which in turn cited a letter from House Republicans.
Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, called the latest action an "illegal, small-minded" overreach.
"I worry that this is sending a very chilling effect to international students looking to come to America for education," he said.
The Trump administration has leveraged the system for tracking international students' legal status as part of its broader attempts to crack down on higher education. What was once a largely administrative database has become a tool of enforcement, as immigration officials revoked students' legal status directly in the system.
Those efforts were challenged in court, leading to restorations of status and a nationwide injunction blocking the administration from pursuing further terminations.
