Why Trump's escalating war on Harvard, other US universities could progressively dent American academic leadership, impact economy
A legal reprieve notwithstanding, US President Donald Trump's escalating attacks on educational institutions such as Harvard University and the targeting of foreign student could be 'a prescription for failure'.
The revocation of Harvard's certification to host international students on Thursday left thousands of students in the lurch. And while students and the Ivy League university, both, face concerns ranging from transferring to another institution to financial pain due to blocked government grants, the US economy will face a blowback too, especially if the Trump administration's crackdown spreads to other elite academic institutions.
The number of international students at Harvard steadily increased to 6,793 in the 2024-25 academic year from 3,941 in 2006-07, accounting for over 27 per cent of total enrollments currently, as per data from the university. Of course, the numbers are even larger if one looks beyond Harvard.
In 2023-24, the number of international students in the US in higher education rose to 11.3 lakh, making up 5.9 per cent of total US enrollment of 1.89 crore, according to the Open Doors 2004 report, published in November 2024 by the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education. Harvard, as it turns out, did not even rank in the top-25 institutions in terms of international students, with New York University topping the list with 27,247 overseas students. India, with 3.32 lakh international students in the US, was the top-sending country for the first time since 2009.
On Friday, Harvard sued the Trump administration for blocking the enrollment of international students – who it said 'contribute significantly to the University and its mission' – and won a temporary restraining order against the government's decision to revoke its certification. As the University petitioned in its lawsuit, 'with the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard's student body.'
The million-plus overseas students in American higher education institutions are also adding meaningfully to the economy. In the 2023-24 academic year, they contributed $43.8 billion to the US economy and supported 3.78 lakh jobs, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators, formerly known as National Association of Foreign Student Advisers.
'The economic activity total is the highest amount ever calculated by NAFSA, eclipsing the high-water mark of $41 billion in 2018-2019 academic year,' the association said in November 2024, adding that for every three international students, one American job is either created or supported.
As it turns out, international students had begun to grow cold towards the US even before the Trump administration's recent criticism of Harvard and policies that have cut back research and science funding. According to an analysis of Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) data by Chris R. Glass, a Professor of the Practice at Boston College's Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education, international student enrollments were down 11% year-on-year in March 2025.
According to Glass, the fall in international student enrollments could represent 'a more fundamental restructuring', with the 11% decline potentially causing a $4 billion hole in the pockets of US institutions. Glass' analysis showed the 11% downturn was led by a 28% fall in Indian students. The Indian Express had reported in December 2024 that the number of student visas issued to Indians in January-September 2024 were down 38% year-on-year.
Others, too, have begun to voice concerns about the prospect of the US attracting fewer overseas students. Speaking at a tech summit in San Francisco earlier this week, renowned artificial intelligence researcher and Stanford University's Sequoia Professor in the Computer Science Department, Fei-Fei Li, warned it was important the US remains a 'magnet' for overseas talent and that the American higher education system continues to be nourished as it was critical to economic growth and innovation.
'Closing yourself off from any group, and especially the 97% of the world's population that lives outside the United States is a prescription for failure. Damaged universities mean less prosperity and fewer new ideas, ranging from the golf tee to Sesame Street to transplantation to stem cell cures for diabetes to so many more things that came from Harvard research. No small part of that contribution came from foreign scholars. All of that is at risk with these actions,' former Harvard University President Larry Summers, who has been a regular critic of his old university but has enthusiastically defended the educational institution after Trump's recurrent attacks, said in a conversation with Politico on Thursday.
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