Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, said it would be “distressing” to Australian students at Harvard.

A ‘stressful time’ for Australian students

Sarah Davis, a student from Australia enrolled at Harvard University, said it was an “incredibly stressful time” on the ground.

“We’re seeing a lot of confusion,” she said. “This news seems to have taken at least the Harvard International Office by complete surprise.”

“It got announced, actually, only ten minutes after we finished the final call for international students for the year. And they seemed to have no indication of this coming based on the call before the news broke,” Davis said.

Australia monitoring developments ‘closely’

“We also intend to engage the administration more broadly on the impact of this decision for Australian students and their families both at Harvard and at other campuses across the United States.”

‘A warning to all universities’

“Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”

It marks a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign against the elite Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has emerged as one of Trump’s most prominent institutional targets.

Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in the 2024-2025 school year, amounting to 27 per cent of its total enrolment, according to university statistics.

‘Unlawful’, Harvard says

The university said it was “fully committed” to educating foreign students and was working on producing guidance for affected students.