Trump’s attack on Harvard’s foreign students targets key revenue for US universities

May 23, KATHMANDU – The Trump administration’s latest blow against Harvard University – cutting off its ability to enroll foreign students – rippled throughout higher education Thursday, because it aims at a major source of revenue for hundreds of schools across the United States, opens new tab.
Because international students are more likely to pay full tuition, they essentially subsidize other students who receive aid, said educational consultant Chuck Ambrose, former president of the University of Central Missouri.

Harvard’s 6,800 international students make up 27% of its total enrollment. In 2023, foreign students made up an even higher share at 43 other schools with at least 1,000 students, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

At Columbia University, which the Trump administration accuses of antisemitic policies, foreign students made up 39% of total enrollment in 2023, the NCES data shows. At 246 other schools with an enrollment of at least 1,000, at least 10% of students were from outside the U.S.
Thursday’s announcement comes as universities are already scrambling to make up for huge federal cuts in research funding.

Harvard, which the Trump administration says has failed to address antisemitism and ethnic harassment on campus, has seen nearly $3 billion in federal contracts and research grants frozen or ended in recent weeks. Neither Harvard nor Columbia had comment on the financial impact of Thursday’s move.

– REUTERS