US President Donald Trump has demanded a cap of around 15 percent on foreign student enrollment at Harvard University, as he mounts pressure on the institution to release the information regarding its international student population.
"Harvard needs to present us with their lists," Trump said to the press at the White House on Wednesday. "They have foreign students. Of their students, around 31 percent are foreign-based. Nearly 31 percent. We want to see where these students are from. Are they troublemakers?"
He proceeded to accuse many of these students of being "troublemakers brought about by radical left lunatics in the country."
I believe they ought to have a limit of perhaps 15 percent, not 31 percent. We have individuals who would like to attend Harvard and other institutions, but they can't because of the foreign students in there," Trump said.
Ever since Trump's return to the White House, he has set his sights on a number of American universities, threatening that those which don't change their policies will be cut off from government grants, as per reports by Xinhua news agency.
Among Trump's major demands are doing away with antisemitism on campuses and getting rid of diversity programs that favor minority groups.
Harvard is in a historic crisis now, with billions of dollars in funding withheld, its tax-exempt status in jeopardy, and numerous investigations under way.
In one of the latest administration actions, the Department of Homeland Security on May 22 announced that Harvard's eligibility for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program was being withdrawn.
Harvard has fired back by suing the federal government. A federal judge in Massachusetts has temporarily halted the ban, with a hearing in court set for May 29. Harvard had previously sued over federal funding reductions imposed by the administration.
As of fall 2023, international students made up over 27 percent of the entire student body, according to Harvard's own statistics. Presently, the university enrolls close to 6,800 scholars and students who are international in origin, coming from over 140 countries and regions, most of whom are here for graduate-level work.
Read also| 15 Foreign Universities Set to Launch Campuses in India This Academic Year
Read also| Jamia Follows JNU in Suspending Turkey MoUs Amid Ankara’s Support for Pakistan
