College students stroll on campus at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., Nov. 19, 2025, because it opens a probe into people talked about within the Jeffrey Epstein information lately launched by Congress, after the paperwork confirmed an in depth relationship between its former president, Larry Summers, and the late convicted intercourse offender. Reuters-Yonhap
Enrollment at Harvard for Chinese language college students rose within the autumn from a 12 months earlier, even because the Donald Trump administration moved to rein in visas for them and restrict international enrollment and funding on the prestigious college.
The variety of college students from mainland China rose from 1,390 in autumn 2024 to 1,452 in autumn 2025 — a rise of 4.5 % — in keeping with Harvard knowledge launched on Friday.
Hong Kong scholar enrollment rose from 68 to 73, whereas enrollment from Macau, which is within the single digits, decreased.
The rise in Chinese language college students is notable as Harvard’s international scholar inhabitants had confronted important scrutiny within the early months of the second Trump administration, with U.S. Homeland Safety secretary Kristi Noem publicly citing its engagement with China as a purpose for the crackdown.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Might mentioned that the State Division and the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety would work to “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese language college students with Communist Celebration ties or in “crucial fields” and to tighten vetting of candidates from mainland China and Hong Kong. Republican lawmakers, in the meantime, have launched measures previously 12 months to curb Chinese language scholar entry to the U.S., citing issues over potential espionage.
Washington and Beijing have been locked in geopolitical fights on the whole lot from expertise to tariffs. Beijing, for its half, has issued examine overseas warnings for its college students in opposition to U.S. states which have imposed restrictions on engagement with China and accused Washington of disproportionate scrutiny of its nationals at U.S. borders.
Harvard, which has been supportive of its international college students regardless of being the primary goal of the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape greater training, is constant its struggle in opposition to the administration with two authorized challenges over funding cuts and international scholar enrollment restrictions pending a closing end result.
The administration’s marketing campaign in opposition to Harvard began with a deal with alleged campus antisemitism however widened into an assault on range programmes and perceived political bias. Final 12 months, it froze billions in analysis funding and blocked the Ivy League faculty from enrolling international college students, demanding modifications in governance, hiring and admissions.
David Weeks, co-founder and chief working officer of Dawn Worldwide, a agency that advises abroad universities on recruiting Chinese language college students, mentioned that the rise was a “significant sign for Harvard and to a barely lesser extent for U.S. greater training.”
Elite U.S. manufacturers nonetheless have a powerful gravitational pull, particularly in China, Weeks mentioned. “Many will apply to third-country choices as hedges, but when they land their U.S. ‘attain’ faculty, they typically nonetheless take it as a result of the perceived long-term credential worth is difficult to match.”
Weeks added that Chinese language college students’ threat tolerance is greater than many observers assume.
“General Chinese language enrollment within the U.S. is down from its 2019 peak, however that decline doubtless displays the extra risk-averse phase of Chinese language college students shifting to options … Many Chinese language households have lived by means of prior U.S.–China ‘lurch cycles’ just like the 2018 commerce warfare, so that they consider shocks otherwise in comparison with markets like India,” he mentioned.
College students stroll previous Widener Library at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., Nov. 19, 2025, because it opens a probe into people talked about within the Jeffrey Epstein information lately launched by Congress, after the paperwork confirmed an in depth relationship between its former president, Larry Summers, and the late convicted intercourse offender. Reuters-Yonhap
Harvard noticed a slight enhance in total international scholar enrollment in contrast with the autumn of 2024. The proportion of worldwide college students at Harvard within the autumn of 2025 rose barely to twenty-eight.1 per cent, or 6,836 college students — a roughly 1 per cent enhance reflecting a achieve of 43 international college students.
Whereas small, it’s a change that goes in opposition to nationwide tendencies. International enrollment at U.S. universities total declined by about 1 % over a comparable interval, whereas new international scholar enrollment fell by 17 %, in keeping with partial knowledge from the Institute of Worldwide Training’s Open Doorways report, which is sponsored by the State Division.
The second Trump administration has taken quite a few steps to limit worldwide college students, together with new social media vetting procedures throughout visa processing, journey bans, threats to deport foreigners for expressing political speech and proposals to alter the H-1B programme — a key work visa typically utilized by worldwide graduates.
On Monday, the State Division mentioned it had revoked over 100,000 visas since Trump took workplace final January, amongst them some 8,000 scholar visas.
Trump has spoken out in opposition to Harvard, however in distinction to others in his administration, has voiced assist for Chinese language and different worldwide college students, calling international enrollment a enterprise matter and saying he would settle for 600,000 Chinese language college students.
Chinese language college students stay the biggest international scholar group at Harvard. Nationwide, they’re the second largest at about 266,000, behind college students from India.
Because the rhetoric in opposition to them picked up final 12 months, college students from China have expressed blended emotions in direction of going to the U.S., with some saying it didn’t change their plans, others wanting elsewhere. Some observe that it’s tough to take particular bulletins significantly due to the frequency of coverage modifications.
It’s not the primary time they’ve been focused. Beneath his first time period, Trump issued a presidential proclamation limiting college students with ties to sure universities in China from coming to the U.S.
Learn the article at SCMP.
