Hong Kong's education secretary calls on local universities to offer support to Harvard international students
Education minister Christine Choi urges "proactive" support after bombshell Trump administration move targeting Ivy League university.
People walk through Harvard Yard on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2025. US President Donald Trump's administration recently revoked Harvard's right to enroll foreign students - more than a quarter of its annual enrollment - in a major escalation of the president's fight with one of the world's most storied universities. (File photo: Joseph Prezioso/AFP)
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HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities have urged local tertiary education institutions to offer support for Harvard University students whose dreams have been dashed after the United States barred the Ivy League school from enrolling international candidates, many of whom are from mainland China.
At least five local universities on Friday (May 23) invited those affected by the bombshell move to apply, while an education consultant said it had received calls from distraught parents of “furious” children who had been accepted at Harvard.
According to US authorities, current international students at the university must also either transfer or leave the country.
The US Department of Homeland Security cited the university’s alleged “coordinated activity” with the Communist Party of China as part of the reasoning for the ban, which marks a sharp escalation of the row between the Trump administration and the Massachusetts-based global leader in education.
Just before midnight, US media reported that a federal judge had blocked the Trump administration’s move.
Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin called on local universities to step up by attracting talent and building the city’s “study in Hong Kong” brand.
“In response to the ban on Harvard University recruiting international students, the Education Bureau has immediately contacted local universities to call on them to take proactive action,” she said in a social media post.
Choi said the government had contacted a local Harvard alumni association to provide “comprehensive support” to students who had been admitted to the university.
She also said Hong Kong universities should make use of relaxed quotas on non-local student intake to attract top candidates.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) announced on Friday it was “opening its doors to Harvard students amid global academic shifts” by expediting admissions and credit transfers, as well as prioritising support for students making the transition, such as help with visas and housing.
A special team and an email hotline have been set up for prospective students affected by the surprise ban.
“Diversity fuels creativity and progress,” HKUST’s provost, Professor Guo Yike, said.
“We are prepared to welcome Harvard students into our community, offering them the resources and vibrant environment needed to thrive in their fields.”
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) said on Friday it was committed to promoting internationalisation by recruiting outstanding students from around the world and providing them with comprehensive support.
This past Tuesday, CUHK president Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming said his team would explore ways to provide additional research subsidies to attract foreign scholars who were leaving the United States.
City University also said it was “extending support to international students facing academic disruption, inviting them to continue their education in Hong Kong”.
The university said it would invite the original supervisors of PhD students to serve as co-supervisors, ensuring continuity and academic quality.
Baptist University said it had always been committed to internationalisation and recruited outstanding non-local students. It added that it would provide necessary support to the relevant students based on the actual circumstances.
Polytechnic University said it invited students who had received admission offers from Harvard or were currently enrolled in the school or other top US universities to consider the Hong Kong education institution for continuing their undergraduate or postgraduate studies.
It said its admissions team would provide comprehensive support and guidance for transfer students, including scholarships, to help them smoothly navigate the move.
The Post has contacted the other publicly funded universities in Hong Kong for comment.
Samuel Chan Sze-ming, managing partner at Britannia StudyLink, a company specialising in placements at elite schools, said he had received multiple calls from parents of prospective Harvard applicants and some who had already been accepted.
“These kids have gone through hoops and have prepared their applications to top-notch states and to get an entry is very, very difficult,” Chan said. “Today, they realise that they cannot start the programme. It’s hugely disappointing and many of the students are furious.”
Chan recommended parents start looking at other leading universities in the states and Britain, such as Oxbridge and Imperial College London
The Department of Homeland Security said that “Harvard’s leadership has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to assault Jewish students on campus and reiterated its accusation of “coordinated activity” between the university and the Communist Party.
Harvard on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse the ban, which is expected to affect more than 5,600 foreign students who make up about a quarter of its student population.
According to Harvard, there were 57 students from Hong Kong and 1,282 from the mainland in the 2024-25 academic year.
In his policy address last year, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the government would establish a “Study in Hong Kong” brand to help turn the city into an international tertiary education hub and push for hotels and commercial buildings to be transformed into student hostels.
This article was first published on SCMP.
