The Trump administration’s decision to bar Harvard University from enrolling foreign students has sent ripples of anxiety through Nigerian families banking on Ivy League dreams. While the White House frames it as a crackdown on "campus extremism," critics see retaliation over Harvard’s refusal to dismantle diversity programs, a move with stark implications for Africa’s brightest.
- Harvard’s international students, including 27.2% of its current class, must transfer to retain their US visas.
- The ban follows frozen federal grants and accusations of "coordination with China" and antisemitism lapses.
- Harvard calls the move "unlawful," vowing to fight for its global scholars’ right to stay.
- Nigerian applicants face disrupted plans; many rely on Harvard’s aid programs for elite education access.
Beyond political sparring, the policy disrupts academic mobility for Nigerians, where US degrees often promise upward mobility, and tests universities’ autonomy globally.
For now, affected students scramble for alternatives, while diaspora parents weigh costly pivots to UK or Canadian schools.
