Crackdown on international students in the U.S. could benefit UK universities

An ongoing crackdown on issuing visas for international students in the United States could open opportunities for talented academics to switch their studies to the UK.

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a directive on June 4 to ban Harvard University from accepting foreign students citing national security concerns, the latest move in an ongoing dispute with the university.

It follows a May 28 announcement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing the administration would "aggressively revoke" visas for Chinese students specifically, though how this would be implemented is not clear.

A federal judge in Boston on Thursday temporarily blocked Trump from barring U.S. entry of foreign nationals at Harvard University.

Under a two-page temporary restraining order granted to Harvard, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs enjoined Trump's proclamation from taking effect pending further litigation of the matter amid an escalating dispute between the Ivy League school and Republican president.

The judge ruled that Trump's directive prohibiting foreign nationals from entering the United States to study at Harvard for the next six months would cause "immediate and irreparable injury" before the courts have a chance to review the case.

What happens next is unclear. Yet even if Trump doesn't get his way, the fallout from his policy of eliminating the legal status of thousands of existing international students is likely to be long lasting.

Chinese students

China is the world's largest source of international students, with over 1 million students studying abroad, out of 50 million in higher education.

Over 277,000 Chinese students were enrolled in U.S. institutions in the 2023-2024 academic year.

The UK is not far behind. Over 166,000 Chinese students are currently enrolled at UK universities, making China the largest single source of international students in the country.

The tightening U.S. stance could shift the balance towards studying in the UK, which has a diverse and welcoming culture, says Charlene Song, a doctoral candidate at University College London's Institute of Education.

"According to the 2025 report from the Ministry of Education in China, the UK ranked number one in terms of overall study abroad environment," she says.

Song said Singapore and Canada were now ranked second and third, and the U.S. is fourth.

"I do think the market will become more diverse, (with America) facing competition from other English-speaking countries and Asian countries," she says.

Shift

British universities are proactively responding to this shift too.

Professors from high ranking universities, including the London School of Economics and King's College London are using social media to reach out to affected students, highlighting the UK as an alternative destination to pursue graduate studies.

Paolo Aversa, Professor of Strategy at King's Business School, King's College London,  who studied in the U.S. himself, and understands what is at stake for the students.

"I thought about how problematic it would have been if I had my visa rejected or interrupted throughout my period there," he says.

"It might be complicated for a student who is pursuing a multi-year research path to change institution, to change country," he says.

Aversa says the UK has long welcomed international talent and that stability could now become a deciding factor for many students.

"I think diversity is very important in interdisciplinary research and at King's we have collaborations with the medical school, connecting business, AI and many other fields with health and social impact, so for us having diversity of backgrounds allows us to be open minded to the problems of the world, and this is something we are happy to pursue," he says.

Avertsa believes students could find a similar experience in top UK universities to what they would have at Harvard or other U.S. schools.

"In general the journey that a PhD student would have at Harvard or at King's would be to a certain degree comparable, I think we both care a lot about research, we care about impact, we care about diversity," he says.

"Especially for the researchers that look at the PhD as an entry point for their academic career, being in a country that might create obstacles later in the game, this might also be an opportunity to reflect on where to start that journey," Aversa says.