Indian students at Harvard navigate uncertainties amid Trump's war on university

NEW YORK: Indian students at Harvard say they are navigating a "rollercoaster" of uncertainty and anxiety amid the Trump administration's relentless battle against the university while also dealing with a dearth of job opportunities.

"It's just been a time of not quite knowing what to do, whether we should make our moves back home, or whether we should try and figure something out here," an Indian student, who graduated last month from the Harvard Kennedy School, said, not wishing to be identified.

Indian students at Harvard, speaking to PTI on condition of anonymity, shared their concerns and experiences of the last few months during which the prestigious university has seen relentless attacks by the Trump administration.

The administration's actions include a freeze of USD 2.2 billion in grants, revocation of the university's eligibility to enrol international students and suspension of entry of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programmes at Harvard.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said that Harvard's leadership has created an "unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment."

US President Donald Trump, in a proclamation last week, said Harvard had refused recent requests of the DHS for information about foreign students' "known illegal activity," "known dangerous and violent activity," "known threats to other students or university personnel," and other related data.

Another Indian student, who graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Design after completing a two-year course, said students come to American institutions with plans of finishing their studies and then finding jobs to work for a few years in the US. But she described the situation of the past few months as being a "rollercoaster."

"With all the uncertainty, I can say that a lot of people who are hiring were generally hesitant of international students, and maybe the Harvard tag helped earlier, but that's not the same right now at this particular moment," she said.

The student from Harvard Kennedy School pointed out that she is in a "desperate job search" at the moment, noting how difficult it is to get a job in the current environment.

"Employers have just stopped entertaining any international students, forget international students from Harvard, because our visa statuses are so volatile that who would want to employ us right now," she said.

She said she doesn't know whether she will be going back to India, staying back or heading to a different country altogether.

That uncertainty is a lot in a country like America where you're paying "huge amounts of money in rent." She added that she thinks this is a short-term turbulence and things will settle down in the future.

"But while we're caught in the crossfire, I think it's been difficult to plan, and so it's stressful for sure."

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The students also pointed out that funding cuts initiated by the Trump administration are impacting jobs in the policy space, climate change, healthcare and public health sectors.

The Design School student recalled that just days before graduating last month, students found out that the Trump administration had terminated Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) certification, which meant the university could no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status.

"We had just finished our final presentations, we were celebrating over lunch, and we saw this news. It was quite unbelievable. Six months ago, you could never predict that something like this would happen," she said.

She however urged foreign students not to feel discouraged by the current situation. "This should not discourage people. Because I think what institutions like Harvard also do is that they make you a global citizen. And if not America, people are finding pathways elsewhere," she said.

Several students say they had planned to move back to India eventually but had hoped to work in the US for the initial few years, both to get experience in the American job market and also to earn to pay back the significant student loans they have.

Another young student, who graduated from Harvard Kennedy School, said while the current situation has been full of "unpredictability", at some levels students are building some kind of resistance, immunity to respond to developments in real time because the Trump administration's moves against Harvard have been blocked and stalled by the courts.

"The challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis probably are in terms of job opportunities, how we plan our future and the next steps," he said.

"I know of some classmates of mine who have been in the final stages of interviews with a few companies, but once they found out that these students were from Harvard, they were like 'that might pose a few issues later on. So we'll move on with another candidate'," the student said.

"I've seen a higher number of people who are going back (to India). They have made up their mind that it's not worth staying and then being in a state of uncertainty, away from family and home, sacrificing a lot of things for a future that remains highly, highly uncertain. So that holds lesser value now for a lot of my peers," he said.

He cited media reports that said the State Department has told US consulates globally to resume processing visa applications for students planning to attend Harvard University. "All this is a signalling effect currently, which is hurting all of us a lot. Because you don't really know what, where you can apply, what you can do, employees are hesitant."

He added that he has also been talking to a lot of students from India who are set to arrive in the US to commence studies at Harvard around September this year. "Generally, yes, the concern has increased a lot in terms of what kind of opportunities exist, because they would be leaving a lot of things back home. The opportunity cost is higher than ever."

He said incoming students or those planning to come to the US in future to study are hesitant and are considering whether they should apply to universities in Europe and elsewhere given "the kind of environment which has been created for international students generally in the US", which will have far-reaching consequences.

He said that while no one he has spoken to among the incoming students has been denied a visa, "some are reconsidering. They are unsure since there's fear of losing funding and scholarships they've received this year if they defer or don't join."

According to statistics on the website of Harvard International Office, there are 788 students and scholars from India at all schools under Harvard University for the 2024-25 academic year.

The Harvard Global Support Services said on its website that each year, anywhere from 500-800 Indian students and scholars study at Harvard.

Harvard hosts a total of about 10,158 students and scholars from around the world across its schools, according to Harvard International Office estimates.

The Kennedy School student pointed to the "American Dream" that used to bring students from India and elsewhere to the US.

"I think that has been significantly affected. It's definitely not the same what it used to be, even, I would say five years ago, because a lot of this damage is unrepairable," he said.

But amid all this what he found "heartening" was the university administration "stepping up" and putting forward a more resolute and strong show of support for the students.

"The other thing which has been absolutely amazing to see is students showing more support for their international peers," he added.