Harvard sees 31% drop in Indian students, foreign share hits new high

Harvard recorded its highest-ever share of international students in fall 2025, but Indian enrolment dropped sharply while Chinese numbers rose.

Indian student enrolment at Harvard University fell sharply in the fall of 2025, even as the Ivy League school recorded its highest-ever share of international students. Data released by the university shows that the number of Indian students declined by about 31 per cent from the previous academic year, at a time when overall foreign enrolment edged up despite sustained pressure from the Trump administration.

 

Harvard said international students made up 28 per cent of its total enrolment in the fall of 2025, or 6,749 students. That is the highest share recorded since at least 2002, according to university data.

 

The rise amounts to a net gain of roughly 50 international students, an increase of less than 1 per cent. Even so, it stands out in a year when Harvard faced funding freezes, visa restrictions and legal battles with the US government. Across the country, foreign enrolment at US universities fell by 1 per cent over the same period, according to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report, sponsored by the US State Department.

 

Indian student numbers decline in Harvard 

 

In fall 2025, Harvard enrolled 545 students from India across its schools.

 

College: 31

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: 107

Business School: 115

Dental School: 6

Design School: 41

Divinity School: 7

Graduate School of Education: 36

Kennedy School of Government: 71

Law School: 22

Medical School: 17

T.H. Chan School of Public Health: 25

Extension School: 67

 

In comparison, 788 students and scholars from India were enrolled across Harvard’s schools in the 2024–25 academic year.

 

Chinese enrolment rises

 

While Indian numbers fell, enrolment among Chinese students increased at a faster pace. Harvard enrolled 1,452 students from China in fall 2025, up from 1,203 in the previous academic year, a rise of about 4.5 per cent.

 

College: 49

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: 591

Business School: 47

Dental School: 11

Design School: 218

Divinity School: 10

Graduate School of Education: 110

Kennedy School of Government: 70

Law School: 32

Medical School: 75

T.H. Chan School of Public Health: 176

Extension School: 63

 

Chinese students remain the largest international group at Harvard. Enrolment from South Korea rose by 8.7 per cent, while numbers from India, the UK and Canada were either flat or lower.

 

Pressure from the Trump administration_

 

Harvard has been a central focus of President Donald Trump’s push to reshape higher education. What began as scrutiny over campus antisemitism widened into disputes over diversity programmes, governance, admissions and hiring.

 

Last year, the Trump administration froze billions of dollars in federal research funding and moved to block Harvard from enrolling international students after the university refused to comply with federal demands.

 

Federal courts later ruled in Harvard’s favour in two legal challenges involving the funding cuts and visa restrictions, though the administration has appealed both decisions.

 

Officials under Trump have also sought to discourage foreign enrolment more broadly. Last autumn, the administration offered selected universities preferential federal funding if they accepted conditions that included capping international students at 15 per cent of undergraduate enrolment.

 

Graduate growth offsets undergraduate dip

 

At Harvard College, undergraduate international enrolment fell 2.6 per cent year on year. That decline was offset by growth at graduate and professional schools.

 

This runs counter to the national picture. The number of foreign graduate students studying in the US dropped 12 per cent year on year this fall, according to the Institute of International Education.

 

Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health recorded the fastest growth among its schools, with an 8 per cent rise in enrolment.

 

The university also reported a shift in the racial and ethnic composition of its student body. Asian American students made up 17.6 per cent of total enrolment this academic year, up from 16.8 per cent a year earlier, partly reflecting changes in the incoming freshman class. The shares of White, Black or African American, and Hispanic or Latino students each fell slightly.