SINGAPORE: Singaporean students enrolled at Harvard are grappling with confusion and anxiety following the Trump administration’s move to revoke the university’s ability to enrol international students. Under a directive announced on Thursday (May 22), Harvard will no longer be allowed to enrol foreign students for the 2025-2026 academic year. Existing international students must either transfer to other schools or risk losing their legal status in the US.
Around 6,800 international students – including 151 Singaporeans – are enrolled in Harvard’s current academic year, making up 27 per cent of its total enrolment, according to university statistics. Tensions between Trump officials and Harvard had been building for months over demands that the university submit conduct records about foreign students, as well as change its admissions and hiring practices to combat antisemitism on campus. Students who spoke to CNA requested anonymity due to fears that their visas might be revoked. James, a final-year undergraduate, told CNA he first learnt of the directive through news reports, not from the university. The school has been “radio silent”, with no official advice sent out to the student body yet. Adding that the Trump administration has been “getting very unpredictable”, he said: “We’re sort of a little confused, but at this point, I frankly don’t think everyone’s surprised.” Those who are still midway through their education at Harvard probably feel more anxious, as it remains unclear whether international students will be allowed to return in the fall semester, James said. The Public Service Division told CNA that there are 12 Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship holders currently enrolled in Harvard. The PSC scholarship is widely regarded as one of Singapore’s most prestigious government scholarships. The division is in touch with them and has reached out to the relevant officials, said its spokesperson. “As for new scholars, we will discuss their study plans with them and give them the support they need, as we regularly do,” the spokesperson said in a statement on Friday. Four universities, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Technology and Design and the Singapore Institute of Technology, told CNA that none of their students have been affected.
Some NTU students have applied for an upcoming Harvard summer school programme, and the university is extending its support to them, the university’s spokesperson said. CNA has contacted Singapore’s Education and Foreign Affairs ministries, as well as other local universities that may have students on exchange programmes in the US, for comment.
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VISAS POSSIBLY REVOKED, BARRING RE-ENTRY
Most Harvard students completed their semester last week, and many international students have returned to their home countries for the summer holidays. Possibly being unable to re-enter the US is a “huge concern” for many international students, and the consequences of the new measures will probably become clear only in the next few weeks, James said. The timing is “not too bad” for him since he is graduating, but he felt sorry for students who were meant to start school or return next semester. “The sentiment here is one of prevailing uncertainty. I wouldn’t say fear and anxiety, but definitely uncertainty. And that is very paralysing in a way for a lot of people to make plans or even consider internships,” he told CNA. For graduating students, the main concern is whether…
