Harvard Kennedy School is scrapping remote option for international students
Harvard Kennedy School is walking back a contingency plan offered to international students in June due to a lack of student interest. The plan had allowed students to study online if they were unable to come to the United States.
"The cohorts would be too small and the class offerings too few to ensure the world-class [Harvard Kennedy School] experience that our students deserve," the spokesperson said.
The school is still offering students the opportunity to study at the University of Toronto, which a "small number" of returning international students have chosen, according to a Harvard Kennedy spokesperson. New students are eligible for the program.
Fifty-two percent of Harvard Kennedy School's student population is international. They are from more than 100 countries, according to the institution.
About 27% of Harvard's undergraduate and graduate students are international, according to 2024 to 2025 data .
The announcement comes after a federal judge ruled in the university's favor on two separate preliminary injunctions — allowing Harvard to host international students and rejecting the Trump administration's attempt to ban Harvard foreign students from entering the country to study .
Talk of a potential deal between Harvard University and the Trump administration continues.
What is being offered and canceled?
Harvard Kennedy School was going to offer, depending on demand, an online program for new and returning students through the school's HKS Global program.
It would have offered students "best-in-class online instruction" and the ability to participate in up to three intensive in-person meetups in cities around the world, where students can take credit-bearing sessions taught by Harvard faculty and engage in co-curricular activities.
Harvard Kennedy School remains open to using the remote option as a contingency plan for the future, should circumstances change and "significantly more students need alternative options this year," the spokesperson said.
The school has outlined a series of support options on its website to answer any lingering questions from students and their families.
The option to study at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto is only available for returning students. The students are offered classes taught by Harvard faculty, both online and in person, as well as by instructors at the Canadian school.
What has happened between the Trump administration and Harvard?
The Trump administration has gone after Harvard since April, cutting billions of dollars.
The federal government warned the school could risk losing $9 billion in funding if it does not meet a list of demands that includes an overhaul of Harvard's leadership structure, admissions and hiring.
Harvard rejected those demands, saying the administration sought to "invade university freedoms long recognized by the Supreme Court."
Then the fight over funding unfolded.
It began with a $2.2 billion funding freeze on April 14 after the school refused to comply with the White House's demands.
In response, Harvard filed a lawsuit on April 21, arguing that its constitutional rights had been violated by the government's threats to pull billions of dollars in funding.
Garber also signed onto a letter with hundreds of other university presidents pushing back against "government overreach and political interference" by the Trump administration.
At the beginning of May, the Trump administration said it would bar Harvard University from acquiring new federal grants while the school continues to refuse to comply with the administration's demands for change on its campus.
A few days later, eight federal agencies cut $450 million in grants , and then the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cut $60 million in grants from the university.
Harvard went on to amend its lawsuit against the Trump administration.
On May 16, a wave of nearly one thousand federal research grant terminations began , amounting to more than $2.4 billion, according to an analysis by Nature .
In response, Harvard established a new Presidential Priorities Fund, asking for donations in the midst of federal cuts.
After nearly every single federal grant had been terminated, some of Harvard's schools, including its School of Public Health, took to social media to ask for donations.
Other investigations and threats have been made against the institution, some of which have focused on threatening the university's ability to enroll international students.
This prompted Harvard to open a second lawsuit against the Trump administration over its ability to accept international students.
Most recently, the U.S. State Department opened an investigation into Harvard University's use of international visas.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also subpoenaed Harvard over its failure to provide documents concerning the misconduct or criminal actions of foreign students.
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