DHS barred Harvard from enrolling international students. Here's what's at stake and what's still uncertain

By Emma Tucker, Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration’s decision on Thursday to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students raises significant questions about the impact on the school community and its academic research.

The US Department of Homeland Security ordered the termination of the university’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, barring the Ivy League school from hosting foreign students, which make up over a quarter of the student population.

The move drastically escalated the university’s dispute with the White House over federal funding, after the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in funds last month when Harvard said it would not concede to its demands, including reforming its international student program.

Harvard was the first academic institution to rebuke key policy changes the Trump administration has demanded of elite US universities. The university has called the DHS action to bar the university from enrolling international students “unlawful” and says it’s working “to quickly provide guidance and support to members of our community.”

Here are some of the answers to key questions about how the decision could impact Harvard:

What is Harvard’s international student population?

In the 2024-2025 academic year, there were 6,793 international students enrolled at Harvard University, making up roughly 27% of its total enrollment.

The decision by DHS will impact a substantial portion of the university’s community, with its international academic population comprising 9,970 people, the school said.

Harvard said it is “committed to maintaining our ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University and this nation,” according to a statement on its website.

What are the options for current international students at Harvard?

In a letter to Harvard, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the revocation of the school’s Student and Exchange Visitor program certification means it is prohibited from enrolling any “aliens on F- or J- nonimmigrant status” for the upcoming academic school year.

It also means existing foreign students with that status “must transfer to another university in order to maintain their nonimmigrant status,” the letter said.

Educational institutions are required to have SEVP certification with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to admit applicants who have an F-1 or M-1 student visa. Institutions are required to provide up-to-date basic information about each student to SEVP, including their address and academic status.

International students at institutions that have lost their SEVP certification are typically allowed to try to transfer to a different certified school before they must leave the country.

Guidelines set by ICE say that SEVP-certified schools have “serious legal obligations” to the student and the US government.

“SEVP will exercise the full authority of the U.S. government to protect you and to institute sanctions against any school that disregards its responsibilities,” according to the ICE fact sheet.

Hundreds of international students have had their student records – known as SEVIS records – canceled and later reinstated in the database DHS uses to track their immigration status and maintain information on SEVP.

Bradley Bruce Banias is an attorney who represents multiple of those students who sued the administration over the termination of their statuses.

“ICE continues to prioritize politics over the rule of law, apparently ignoring binding regulations and, again, terrorizing foreign national students,” he told CNN Thursday.

Banias, who does not represent any students at Harvard, suggested some students might opt to apply for tourist visas so they can remain in the US as the case plays out, with the hope a judge will intervene and issue a temporary restraining order over the “unprecedented” decision.

Is the move legal?

The latest move by the Trump administration has “gone so far in a way that will certainly draw a very strong legal challenge,” said Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst and former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

There are well-established legal processes in place for revoking a school’s certification, according to Williams, and he said it doesn’t appear the administration has complied with them.

It’s still unclear when and how the policy will be implemented, but key stakeholders – the university’s leaders, students and faculty – would have a “strong basis” for a legal challenge fighting against it, said Williams.

Separately, on Thursday, US District Judge Jeffrey White of the federal district court in San Francisco blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal status allowing foreign students to study at colleges and universities nationwide.

The federal judge issued the preliminary injunction after the administration moved to tamper with students’ SEVIS records, putting them at risk of deportation.

The Trump administration backed down on the initiative last month amid numerous legal challenges after cancelling the records of thousands of international students.

Judge White said in his ruling he “does not find it speculative to conclude that, in the absence of an injunction (the administration) would abruptly re-terminate SEVIS records without notice.”

However, Thursday’s ruling only applies to individual cases, and not at the university level – it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration’s recent move against Harvard will be challenged in court.

How will the decision impact the university’s research?

Some Harvard staff worry draining the university of its foreign students would debilitate the academic prowess of both the institution and, potentially, American academia as a whole.

“We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission,” university spokesperson Jason Newton said.

Harvard economics professor and former Obama administration official Jason Furman called the measure “horrendous on every level.”

“It is impossible to imagine Harvard without our amazing international students. They are a huge benefit to everyone here, to innovation and the United States more broadly,” Furman said. “Higher education is one of America’s great exports and a key source of our soft power. I hope this is stopped quickly before the damage gets any worse.”

Another professor familiar with the situation told CNN that if the policy goes into effect, he fears “many labs will empty out.”

Some Harvard research is already facing direct impacts from last month’s federal funding freeze: Harvard Medical School is preparing for possible layoffs and the School of Public Health, which subsequently received three stop-work orders on research, is winding down two leases in off-campus buildings.

How will it impact Harvard financially?

International students are more likely to pay full tuition at US colleges, in part because most aren’t eligible for federal financial aid, bringing significant funding to colleges.

More than three-quarters of international students primarily fund their education themselves, through their family or through current employment, the Institute of International Education found. Less than one-fifth received primary funding from their US college or university.

Noem said in April that Harvard “relies heavily on foreign student funding … to build and maintain their substantial endowment.”

While Harvard is the nation’s oldest and richest university with a massive $53.2 billion endowment that could help supplement any cuts, experts and a review of Harvard’s financials show the challenges with tapping into that endowment, CNN previously reported.

Endowments can’t be accessed at any time like bank accounts. They have to be maintained in perpetuity and are largely legally restricted.

Harvard says it has been funding two-thirds of its operating expenses from other sources, including federal research grants and student tuition.

Roughly 80% of Harvard’s endowment is earmarked for financial aid, scholarships, faculty chairs, academic programs or other projects, according to the school. The remaining 20% is intended to sustain the institution for years to come.

Some of the unrestricted money is tied up in illiquid assets, such as in hedge funds, private equity and real estate that can’t be easily sold.

Could Harvard regain its ability to enroll foreign students?

As of now, the only way Harvard can regain its ability to enroll international students would be to submit detailed records of such students participating in activities deemed “illegal,” “dangerous” and threatening from over the past five years to DHS. The school will have 72 hours to do so, Noem warned in her letter Thursday.

Noem specified that records should include any disciplinary actions, as well as audio and video footage of “any protest activity” involving foreign students on campus.

“Providing materially false, fictitious or fraudulent information may subject you to criminal prosecution,” the secretary wrote. “Other criminal and civil sanctions may also apply.”

How are key stakeholders reacting to the news?

Harvard student body co-president Abdullah Shahid Sial, a rising junior, had flown to Tokyo for a conference when the news broke. When he regained internet access, he was flooded with messages – including apologies from friends.

International students, he said in a statement, “happen to represent the best of the best in their own respective countries and them being treated in such a dehumanized and disrespectful manner… is very sad to see.”

Sial told CNN he’s working with Harvard’s administration to actively support affected students, including helping them explore transfer options if needed.

Harvard’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors said in a statement after the announcement it “condemns in the strongest possible terms the Trump administration’s unconstitutional assault on our international students.”

The group of professors said the decision “expands the Trump administration’s terrorizing assault on international students and scholars in the United States.”

“International students are essential members of the Harvard community,” the statement continued.

Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, said the move “will be distressing for Harvard’s many Australian students” and is offering them consular advice as they closely monitor the situation.

“We also intend to engage the administration more broadly on the impact of this decision for Australian students and their families both at Harvard and at other campuses across the United States,” Rudd said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misattributed a quote about how Harvard relies heavily on international student funding. It was said by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in April.

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