Trump administration suspends foreign student admissions at Harvard

In a dramatic move that has sent shockwaves across the global academic community, the Trump administration has temporarily suspended the admission of foreign students to Harvard University. The decision was announced by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem through an official post on X (formerly Twitter), where she also shared a letter addressed to the university.

The letter cites ongoing investigations into alleged violence, hostility, and links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Harvard’s campus. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly looking into activities believed to pose national security concerns.

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Harvard University, which hosts students from over 140 countries, has been instructed to suspend its participation in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). According to the DHS directive, the university must provide required documentation within 72 hours to formalize its withdrawal from SEVP certification before the start of the upcoming academic year.

As a consequence of this directive, foreign students already enrolled at Harvard will be transferred to other academic institutions, though details of the transition process remain unclear.

The unprecedented suspension of admissions at one of the world’s most prestigious universities is expected to have far-reaching implications, especially for international students planning to study in the U.S. The move has drawn criticism from educational and civil rights groups, who fear it could harm America’s reputation as a leading destination for higher education.