‘I’m very fearful’: How Trump’s college actions are affecting returning students
Despite being a citizen of the United States, Giana Sosa still carries her passport with her when she walks around the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus.
As someone who was born outside of the country, she feels like she has more of a target on her back on her college campus than off of it. That is in part due to the Trump administration's focus on colleges and universities — especially those like Harvard University and UMass Amherst that have had protests and encampments over the war in Gaza.
The two have faced investigations and, in the case of Harvard, billions of dollars in federal funding have been cut .
"I'm very fearful. If it could happen to Harvard — it can happen to any school," Sosa said.
The Trump administration recently announced it was seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles — another public institution like UMass — after suspending $584 million in federal grants from the institution.
"I'm a person where I'd like to know the next steps of everything. I have a lot of fears going into the semester of college," Sosa said.
While Sosa said she loves studying at UMass Amherst, she feels like she has to rush to leave. Ideally, she said she would like to extend her studies at UMass Amherst for another semester past her senior year. However, she has credits she still needs to complete after transferring from Cape Cod Community College.
"I hope it is my last year because I don't want to deal with another semester where I'm worried about what's going on in the outside world or here on campus."
Addressing antisemitism
While some students MassLive interviewed across the state express concerns about how the federal government may be hurting higher education, at least one views the upcoming academic year with optimism due to presidential actions.
Noah Levy, a rising senior at Brandeis University, said it seems like every day there's an attack on Jewish institutions or Jewish people. To him, the Trump administration's focus on antisemitism has been needed on college campuses — and overall positive, he said.
Noah Levy is a rising senior at Brandeis University.Courtesy Photo
He believes the federal government's actions will have "ripple effects" across higher education, forcing colleges and universities to better enforce rules about what constitutes Jewish hate and an increased focus on stopping such hate, he said.
"I'm optimistic about the safety of Jewish students on campus across the country," Levy said.
Brandeis still feels like a "safe haven" in comparison to other campuses, Levy said.
Brandeis was founded in 1948 by the American Jewish community to counter antisemitism and quotas on Jewish enrollment in higher education. About a third of students are Jewish at Brandeis, according to the university's website .
In April 2024, Brandeis's then-president Ronald Liebowitz announced he was extending its transfer application deadline until May 31, aiming to provide an environment for "Jews and students from every background" free of "harassment and Jew-hatred" amid ongoing protests related to the war.
'Damage prevention mode'
To other students, the Trump administration's focus on higher education hasn't been warranted.
Jordan Schwartz, a rising junior at Harvard, is part of a student group called Students for Freedom, which opposes the Trump administration's actions toward the university due, in part, to its interference with academic freedom.
While he expects this year to be a continuation of the same work by student organizers — such as holding rallies and speaking with the Harvard administration about their concerns — what is top of mind for students each semester surprises him, he said.
Between the encampments on campus related to the war in Gaza to the Trump administration's attacks on the university over campus antisemitism, something new or controversial frequently confronts the lives of Harvard students, he said.
"It's been so many different attacks from different directions on parts of Harvard education. It's just been really concerning," Schwartz said.
Jordan Schwartz is a student at Harvard University and is part of Students for Freedom, a student group.Mark McDonald
Schwartz said student organizers are working to ensure Harvard doesn't accept unfavorable terms in a potential settlement with the Trump administration, which is reportedly in its final stages .
For instance, Schwartz said he doesn't want the Harvard deal to look like Columbia University's settlement, which agreed to pay over $220 million , be monitored by an external group and disclose data on admissions, including racial information.
"We're mostly in damage prevention mode. But I think the single most important thing that we need to avoid is something along the lines of what happened at Columbia [University], where they have external monitors from the federal government. They're really infringing upon pretty basic elements of academic freedom. And so the further we can stay away from that, the better," he said.
Getting a seat at the table
Jack Masliah is a student at Northeastern University and a part of the Educational Freedom Project, a group of students across Boston organizing to protect higher education.Courtesy Photo
Jack Masliah, an international student from Mexico attending Northeastern University, has similarly been ramping up his organizing for the upcoming academic year.
He helped to create the Educational Freedom Project in March, which is a group of students across campuses in Greater Boston fighting government attacks on higher education and asking for a seat at the table with university administrators.
He said students and faculty are often scared to speak out about these issues because they want to keep their heads low so that Northeastern or other Boston-area schools don't get the Harvard or Columbia "treatment."
While the group's intention is to be a part of the conversation when colleges or universities are making decisions in reaction to Trump administration threats, the group also wants to talk to administrators about how to adapt to new concerns that aren't created by the federal government — such as artificial intelligence in classrooms.
"We feel there is a transformation higher ed happening, even if the government wasn't doing what they're doing right now," Masliah said.
"There just seems like decisions are being made at a very high level without any consultation from students. And that student voices, the student government or the student body is largely ignored. And to a certain extent, I think students don't even realize that their voices could be heard. So we haven't done much about that. So we hope that the Educational Freedom Project can kind of narrow that gap," he said.
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