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Chinese student numbers at Harvard rise despite Trump visa crackdown
Enrolment from mainland China grew 4.5% in 2025 even as Washington tightened vetting and revoked thousands of student visas
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Bochen Hanin Washington
Enrolment at Harvard for Chinese students rose in the autumn from a year earlier, even as the Donald Trump administration moved to rein in visas for them and limit foreign enrolment and funding at the prestigious university.
The number of students from mainland China rose from 1,390 in autumn 2024 to 1,452 in autumn 2025 – an increase of 4.5 per cent – according to Harvard data released on Friday.
Hong Kong student enrolment rose from 68 to 73, while enrolment from Macau, which is in the single digits, decreased.
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The increase in Chinese students is notable as Harvard’s foreign student population had faced significant scrutiny in the early months of the second Trump administration, with US Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem publicly citing its engagement with China as a reason for the crackdown.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May said that the State Department and the US Department of Homeland Security would work to “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese students with Communist Party ties or in “critical fields” and to tighten vetting of applicants from mainland China and Hong Kong. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have introduced measures in the past year to curb Chinese student access to the US, citing concerns over potential espionage.
04:21
Citing China ‘activity’, Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling foreign students
Citing China ‘activity’, Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling foreign students
Washington and Beijing have been locked in geopolitical fights on everything from technology to tariffs. Beijing, for its part, has issued study abroad warnings for its students against US states that have imposed restrictions on engagement with China and accused Washington of disproportionate scrutiny of its nationals at US borders.
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