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The Harvard Kennedy School may allow international students to study online or complete their degrees at the University of Toronto if they are unable to enter the United States next academic year, the school announced Tuesday.
The options will only be launched if “there is sufficient demand from students who are unable to come to the United States due to visa or entry restrictions,” according to a website describing the school’s contingency plans.
“We hope to see you on campus in the fall, but if that is not possible, we will bring HKS to you,” Kennedy School dean Jeremy M. Weinstein wrote in an email to school affiliates.
The move shows that Harvard is continuing to prepare for the worst even as the University tallies victories over the White House in court.
The Trump administration’s two main attacks on Harvard’s international students — an attempt to revoke the University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification and an entry ban on travelers with Harvard-sponsored F and J visas — have both been blocked with preliminary injunctions, which will stay in place until a judge makes a final decision in the case.
But threats to international students remain. The Department of Homeland Security has set in motion a second attempt to revoke Harvard’s SEVP certification, which authorizes it to host international students, that could take effect after Friday.
Many students attempting to obtain U.S. visas could find their paperwork stuck in limbo — despite guidance from the federal government not to deny students visas or entries based on the May 22 SEVP revocation. Consular officers have placed several Harvard students’ visa applications in administrative processing, one step short of an outright denial, which could stall their travel plans without falling afoul of court orders.
And a separate travel ban — which completely blocks travel from 12 countries and places restrictions on entry from seven more — could keep many new and returning HKS students out of the U.S. At HKS, where 59 percent of the student body is international, there were five students last year whose primary citizenship is in the 12 blacklisted countries, according to data maintained by Harvard’s Office of Institutional Research and Analytics.
Weinstein described the preliminary injunctions as “great news,” claiming that international students “should” be able to obtain visas and enter the U.S. while litigation continues.
But if the contingency plans go into effect, HKS students affected by visa limits or travel bans will have access to two alternatives. Anyone denied entry could take courses online, and returning HKS students would also have the option to enroll in a visiting student program at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.
Online students would have the chance to attend three in-person convenings in cities outside the U.S. during the academic year, where they would be able to take short intensives with HKS faculty for credit.
Students in Toronto would complete both online and in-person coursework with faculty from HKS and the Munk School. They would be enrolled as full-time students at the Munk School but would only receive HKS degrees.
University President Alan M. Garber ’76 announced in early June that Harvard’s schools would independently develop their contingency plans, but HKS is the first school to publicize them.
It is no surprise that HKS is leading the way. The government school is Harvard’s most international and will welcome students back to campus as early as July 8. And Weinstein has not held back from criticizing the Trump administration’s attacks — in a late May email, he denounced the SEVP termination as “unlawful and wrong.”
The alternative programs could still face obstacles. The Munk School program cannot be launched without approval from the New England Commission of Higher Education, which provides accreditation for Harvard’s offerings. Students would also need to obtain Canadian visas in order to participate.
In a statement, founding director of the Munk School Janice G. Stein said these were “exceptional times” and that the Munk School “looks forward to providing shared academic and co-curricular experiences for students from both our schools” if some HKS students are unable to enter the U.S.
HKS will hold online information sessions this week for international students, according to the HKS web page. The page directed students to fill out a survey by the end of the month if they will need to use the contingency plans.
“Our top priority is to teach all students here on campus, and we continue to support international students as they apply for U.S. visas and travel to Cambridge,” Weinstein wrote in his email.
But, he added, “if these programs become necessary, I am fully confident that we will provide a world-class HKS experience for any student who participates in them.”
—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.
