June 6, 2025
SINGAPORE – Singaporean students who are currently undergraduates at Harvard University have been told that autonomous universities here can offer them placements if they wish to discontinue their studies in the US and return home, owing to recent developments.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew, the Republic’s ambassador to the US, said this during a virtual town hall with the affected students on May 30, The Straits Times has learnt.
In response to queries from ST, a Ministry of Education spokesperson said the Republic’s autonomous universities “stand ready to support Singaporean students in Harvard if they wish to continue their studies in Singapore”.
The spokesperson added that this message was shared with affected students so they could consider returning to Singapore as a possible option to continue their studies.
There are six autonomous universities here: National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore University of Technology and Design and Singapore Institute of Technology.
University statistics show that there are currently 151 Singaporean students in Harvard. Among them are 12 Public Service Commission scholarship holders.
The studies of foreign students at Harvard were thrown into limbo after US President Donald Trump’s administration announced on May 22 that it had revoked Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Programme certification with immediate effect.
The nearly 6,800 international students in the Ivy League college were given an ultimatum to either transfer to another institution, or face deportation.
A federal judge later blocked the move, with the Trump administration rolling back its stance on May 29 and giving Harvard 30 days to submit evidence contesting the administration’s plan to revoke the school’s right to enrol international students.
International students make up more than a quarter of Harvard’s student body, but Mr Trump said the university should cap its international intake at 15 per cent.
The administration’s targeting of Harvard is part of a wider crackdown on universities based on several allegations, including claims of anti-Semitism and anti-white bias, which have been used as leverage to pressure the schools into enacting policy changes.
On June 4, Mr Trump kept up the pressure on the world’s wealthiest university by signing a proclamation targeting foreign students at Harvard.
Besides suspending the entry of foreign nationals looking to study or take part in exchange programmes at Harvard, the order also directed the Secretary of State to consider revoking existing student visas for current Harvard students who “meet the proclamation’s criteria”.
It does not apply to foreign nationals attending other US universities on student exchange programmes and also exempts those whose entry is deemed to be in the interest of the US.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) had said on May 27 that it is monitoring the impact on the academic prospects of Singaporean students, with the Singapore Embassy in Washington engaging the US State Department and Department of Homeland Security.
The ministry had also set up support structures for affected students, including a group communication channel hosted by MFA’s Consular Department and the Singapore Global Network.
ST has contacted the Singapore Embassy in Washington for more information.
Since the crackdown on Harvard, the Trump administration has also taken greater steps to stymie the intake of international students into the US.
In an internal cable that was reported by Politico on May 27, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had directed all overseas missions to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visa applicants.
The State Department also plans to issue guidelines on “expanded social media vetting”, with only visa appointments that have already been scheduled set to be honoured.
The extent of the social media vetting, as well as a timeline for rolling it out, has not been disclosed yet.
- Additional reporting by Angelica Ang