British students banned from Harvard as Trump blocks foreign admissions

Yahoo

23-05-2025

British students have been banned from Harvard after Donald Trump blocked foreign admissions to the university.
The Trump administration announced on Thursday that the United States's oldest and wealthiest university would no longer be able to enrol international students.
In a statement, Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, ended Harvard's ability to enrol foreign students.
The move means British students will no longer be allowed to attend the prestigious university, and that existing British students must transfer to other schools or lose their right to stay in the country.
'This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, anti-Semitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,' Ms Noem said.
'It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enrol foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments.'
A spokesman for Harvard said 'The government's action is unlawful. We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard's ability to host international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the university – and this nation – immeasurably.'
The number of British students studying abroad is soaring across the board, with a 45 per cent increase in applications to study in the US between 2008 and 2018.
It follows complaints that record numbers of privately educated British students are being snubbed by top UK universities in favour of those who attended state schools.
An estimated 7 per cent of independent school leavers go to international universities, with around half of those going to the US, according to Independent Schools Council census data released this week.
In 2022, Harvard admitted 236 British students, with graduates from the UK making up the largest single proportion of the university's foreign alumni at 7,177.
British students pay up to £60,000 ($80,000) a year to attend Harvard, which includes tuition, fees, housing, food, books, travel and personal expenses.
Helen Pike, master of Magdalen College School, Oxford, and chairman of the Heads' Conference/Girls' School Association universities' committee, said: 'I'm saddened to see young people from around the world caught up, through no fault of theirs, in a political argument that will have a negative impact on their education.
'I hope for their sake that the issue can be resolved swiftly, before the new academic year.'
Nearly 7,000 international students enrolled at Harvard in the last academic year, university data shows, making up 27.2 per cent of its student body.
In May, Mr Trump threatened to remove Harvard University's tax exemptions.
The university is also in a legal battle with the Trump administration over the freezing of £1.7 billion ($2.2 billion) in federal grants.
Harvard said a revocation of its tax-exempt status would be unlawful and unprecedented.
A spokesman said at the time: 'There is no legal basis to rescind tax-exempt status. The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America.'
The move would also cut money available for student scholarships, medical research and technological advancements that drive economic growth, the Harvard spokesman said.
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