US President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked Harvard’s right to enrol foreign nationals – more than a quarter of the student body – in an escalation of his fight against the prestigious university.

The Massachusetts university quickly slammed the move as “unlawful” and said it would cause “serious harm” to both the campus and the country as a whole.

Trump is furious at Harvard – which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners – for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of antisemitism and “woke” liberal ideology.

“Effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) Programme certification is revoked,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a letter to the Ivy League institution, referring to the main system by which foreign students are permitted to study in the US.

Harvard, which has sued the US government over the raft of other punitive measures it has taken against it, quickly fired back, calling the move “unlawful”.

“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars,” it said in a statement.

“We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.”

Karl Molden, an international student from Austria, said he had applied to study at Oxford in Britain because he feared such measures.

“It’s scary and it’s saddening,” the 21-year-old government and classics student said.

“I love Harvard, and getting into the school has been the greatest privilege of my life.

“It’s definitely going to change the perception of ... students who (might) consider studying there – the US is getting less of an attractive spot for higher education.”

‘Everyone’s panicking’

Last month, Trump threatened to stop Harvard from enrolling foreign students if it did not agree to government demands that would put the private institution under outside political supervision.

“As I explained to you in my April letter, it is a privilege to enrol foreign students,” Noem wrote.

“All universities must comply with Department of Homeland Security requirements, including reporting requirements under the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme regulations, to maintain this privilege,” she said.

“As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies, you have lost this privilege.”

More than 27% of Harvard’s enrolment was made up of foreign students in the 2024-25 academic year, according to university data.

Fourth-year US student Alice Goyer said “no one knows” what the development would mean for international students already enrolled.

“We just got the news, so I’ve been getting texts from a lot of international friends, and I think everyone’s just – no one knows,” she said.

“Everyone’s panicking a bit.”

On whether students would willingly transfer to other institutions, as suggested by Noem in the letter, Goyer said “I doubt people would do that.”

“I would hope maybe there’s going to be a legal battle that’ll take place.”

-Agence France-Presse