Approximately 7,000 international students attend Harvard, which accounts for one-fourth of its total enrollment. That huge enrollment has been in jeopardy since May, however, when the Dept. of Homeland Security pulled Harvard’s certification to host foreign students to punish the school for ignoring blatant antisemitism during campus protests.
Last week, after Harvard sued the Trump administration, a federal judge’s ruling gave Harvard a temporary win to enroll foreign students while the lawsuit plays out in court, according to an Associated Press story.
Jessica Vaughn, director of policy studies at the Center for immigration Studies, tells AFN that Harvard needs the foreign students because it needs their tuition. Like many campuses, she says, international students at Harvard pay full tuition.
That annual tuition is approximately $60,000 according to Harvard's online information. If all of its international students are paying full tuition, that is $420 million annually.
Other expenses, such as student fees, campus housing and meals, can total another $27,000 per international student. Those costs are even higher for graduate students.
“But the ability to bring in foreign students,” Vaughn stresses, “is a privilege, not a right.”
Vaugh also calls the judge’s order on behalf of Harvard “improper interference” by a court, when the federal government has the legal authority to regulate which foreigners, including students, are allowed to enter the U.S.
In fact, according to the AP story, Harvard’s legal win is only a partial victory. The federal judge also said the Trump administration has the authority to review Harvard’s international student program.
Khalil is helping Trump admin
According to Vaughan, the foreign students who have engaged in blatant antisemitism deserve to be deported by the Trump administration.
She says one main target is Mahmoud Khalil. He is the former Columbia University graduate student who was released from a detention center and began protesting again immediately after his release.
AFN has reported in previous stories that Khalil is on camera, at a Columbia event in March 2024, defending Hamas and its “armed resistance” against Israel.
Kahlil might feel “vindicated” after his release, Vaughan says, but he’s not helping his case for remaining on U.S. soil as a guest of our country.
“Because he's pretty much proving what the Trump administration has said all along," she says, "which is that this person is going to continue to act against U.S. interests in a way that is inciting protests and actions against our government."
