No more foreign students? – DW – 24.05.2025

Harvard University was founded in 1636 and is one of the most renowned educational institutions in the world. It has produced many Nobel laureates and eight US presidents. The current US President Donald Trump has declared Harvard a “joke” – one that he doesn't find funny. According to Trump, the university teaches “hatred and stupidity” and places “awake, radically left, idiots”. This, he said in a contribution in his own social media platform, truth social, mid-April, was the reason why Harvard “should no longer receive federal funds”.

Government authorities immediately frozen 2.2 billion US dollars (approx. 2.2 billion euros), which were intended for the university. In May, a Task Force from the University of the University of the University informed that additional funding of $ 450 million was also reduced.

On Thursday, May 22nd, the Trump government continued to escalate the conflict. The US Secretary for Homeland Protection, Kristi NoEM, issued a letter in which the university's license was revoked to enroll foreign students. Harvard received a 72-hour period to give the administration specific information about foreign students if she wanted to regain her license.

Harvard immediately sued the administration and achieved a first legal victory the following day when the US district judge Allison D. Burroughs found in favor of the university. She accepted the argument that the state order Harvard would cause “immediate and irreparable injuries”, and temporarily blocked the arrangement until another hearing.

What is the justification of the Trump administration for your actions?

As Trump himself and many of him have almost stated, they are worried that Harvard's teaching and research are dominated by left content and ideologies. However, the US constitution makes it clear that the government can only restrict freedom of speech in a few, very specific cases. Last month, more than 100 US universities signed an open letterCiting the constitution and against “unprecedented government crossing and political interference”.

The legal pretext for the financing cuts is the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have taken place at many US universities in response to Israel's war against Hamas. The war is Israel's reaction to the terrorist attack, which was launched by the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. There were many reports that Jewish students were targeted in protests in the United States in anti -Semitic attacks. Together with Germany, Israel and other countries, the USA characterize Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Why does the US government be targeting Harvard?

The new US government has withdrawn the financing or threatened to do so from around 60 universities. In March, for example, 400 million US dollars of federal financing from Columbia University in New York, and accused the university management of “continuing inactivity in the face of continuing harassment”.

Columbia sued the administration because of the cancellation of the financing, but corresponded to several other state demands, such as the ban on wearing masks in protests, the hiring of new security personnel and changes to the management of the Middle East, in South Asia and African studies. Nevertheless, the US Ministry of Health and Human Services confirmed the accusation of inactivity.

Harvard, who is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a suburb outside of Boston, is so far the only university that opposes the requirements of the administration. One reason why it can afford to question the government is that it has a foundation of more than 50 billion US dollars. This equipment can now be targeted by the government.

What would the new measures for Harvard mean?

If the administration is successful in blocking Harvard from the enrollment of international students, a consequence will be that many international students lose their US residence permits unless they can register at another university.

This would not only rob Harvard international talent. Around 6,800 non-US citizens are enrolled at the university, which they receive in tuition fees around $ 400 million a year. The fees are the same for US students -around 59,000 US dollars a year -but many receive scholarships that the university finances. Overall, Harvard therefore earns more of international students than American.

The US government is also considering raising high taxes on capital profits through foundations of the university. Foundation funds are mainly invested in securities and result in hundreds of million dollars a year. During his first term, Trump introduced a capital gains tax of 1.4% for universities with foundations that exceeded 500,000 US dollars per student. Now he suggests increasing further levels and capital gains for foundations in the highest category – over 2 million US dollars per student – with 21%.

In the USA TODAY The national newspaper, the economist Phillip Levine, estimated that elite universities such as Yale, Stanford, with, Princeton and of course Harvard are exposed to tax invoices between 400 and 850 million US dollars per year as part of the new system.

What does the US government of Harvard ask for?

According to a letter The US government sent to the university administration by three government agencies and demands that Harvard conduct extensive reforms by August 2025 to counteract what it perceives as dominance of the left ideologies at Harvard Faculties.

These reforms include the introduction of new guidelines to limit the “power” of students and faculties, especially those university that “is more committed to activism than a scholarship”. Jobs and study places, according to the letter, should only be awarded on the basis of the earnings in the future: The university must “adjust all preferences based on breed, color, religion, sex or national origin”. Programs that promote diversity, justice and inclusion (Dei) are set. In addition, the reforms will expand the viewpoints of the perspectives represented and prevent the approval of students “hostile” for “American values ​​and institutions”.

It is not clear what will happen next. Judge Burroughs, who temporarily blocked the state order on Friday, planned a hearing for May 29 to decide whether it should be extended or not. These are probably only the first steps in a long legal dispute.

This article was translated from German.