Japanese universities urged to open doors to students blocked from Harvard

Japan Times

28-05-2025

Japan's education ministry has asked universities nationwide to consider accepting or supporting students who may no longer be able to study in the U.S. as President Donald Trump moves to block Harvard University from enrolling international students.
Universities on Tuesday were also asked to report within a week measures they could take for both Japanese and non-Japanese students who are affected by the Trump administration's push against foreign enrollments at Harvard.
According to the ministry, there are 110 students and 150 researchers from Japan currently at Harvard. Combined with those at other universities, there are about 16,000 Japanese students in the U.S. International students number 6,800 at Harvard, or 27% of its total enrollment.
'The U.S. is the biggest destination for Japanese students studying abroad,' education minister Toshiko Abe told reporters Tuesday. 'We are committed to ensuring, in collaboration with related agencies, that motivated and talented young people can continue their studies.'
A list of support measures for students will be announced on the website of the ministry-affiliated Japan Student Services Organization in the near future, officials said. Non-Japanese students may also be included in the support measures, but the decision on whom to accept is up to each recipient institution, they added.
Some universities have already begun making preparations.
The University of Tokyo, which accepted about 20 Ukrainian students fleeing war in 2022, is planning "to assist talented students whose studies have been disrupted by external factors, whether or not their home institution is Harvard University," Kaori Hayashi, executive vice president in charge of international affairs and diversity at UTokyo, wrote in an email.
The initiative will be open to students regardless of nationality, she added.
The students would not be enrolled as degree-seeking students but will be issued academic transcripts so that credits taken at the university can be recognized at other institutions in the future, the university said, noting that details of the program, including the start date, scale and duration are still being worked out.
Nagoya University said it is committed to accepting non-degree seeking students, regardless of nationality. The officials added they are also considering accepting degree-seeking students, though much is still under discussion.
"However, as with other Japanese universities, Nagoya University has strict quotas on the number of undergraduate students who can be admitted to degree-seeking programs," the university said in a statement. "If the quotas can be adjusted, we are hoping to contribute more."
The fates of Harvard's international students remain unclear. The Trump administration has told Harvard that the students must transfer to another institution or lose their legal status, on the grounds that the university is fostering antisemitism on campus.
Harvard has filed a legal challenge against the U.S. government over the move, and a district court has preliminarily ruled in its favor. A hearing has been set for Thursday to determine whether the temporary order should be extended.
Ryo Hotta, a Japanese pediatric surgeon and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, said Trump's move has put the fate of a Japanese medical student who was planning to join his lab in the summer in limbo.
'The visa application process has suddenly come to a halt, so we are currently watching the situation,' Hotta said, adding that he is worried the move may not be limited to Harvard. 'It could have a domino effect on other universities.'
Hotta has a green card and will not be affected by the visa ban.
Worries of Trump's move against Harvard spreading may not be unfounded.
Politico reported Tuesday that the Trump administration is considering vetting the social media accounts of foreign students applying to study in the U.S., and, as part of that, is ordering U.S. embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for student visa applications.
When asked about the Politico report, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters Wednesday that Japan will "aim to continue close communication with the U.S. to grasp the situation and act appropriately.'
Hiroshi Ota, a professor and international education expert at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo who spent a year at Harvard as a visiting scholar until last year, said he is more worried about students who plan to go to the U.S. than those who are already there since the visa application process for the new school year will get into full swing in June.
While thousands of U.S. student visas were initially terminated earlier this year, the Trump administration announced in April that it would restore their statuses as the number of lawsuits filed by students against the policy surged, Ota said. To challenge a case where an interview for a new visa is suspended would be quite difficult, he added.
'This is no longer just about Harvard,' he said.
On the education ministry's call for universities to accept students from the U.S., Ota said Japan should not rush into anything and instead work to create a framework that will allow such students to pursue a degree in Japan, if they wish to do so.
Gabriele Ninivaggi contributed to this report.