Taiwan students heading to Harvard anxious after US enrolment block

TAIPEI - With an admission letter in hand, Taiwanese student Lin Yu-hsuan was ready to attend her dream school, Harvard University, this September.

But the decision of US President Donald Trumps administration to revoke Harvard Universitys ability to enrol foreign students made her feel anxious and helpless, she told Reuters at her Taipei apartment.

“The path towards my dream is actually harder and tougher than I expected. There are so many uncertainties,” she said.

“I thought that I could accept all the changes along the way as what we have gone through in the past half year. However, this one is specifically (targeted) at the international students. So I kind of feel like really hit by it. And that’s why I feel kind of anxious.”

The decision marked a significant escalation of the Trump administrations campaign against the elite Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Harvard called it a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws.

A US judge temporarily blocked the administrations order, but it did not provide comfort to Ms Lin who has yet to receive her visa.

“I think I would either defer my studies at Harvard, as they said that’s one of the possibilities, or I would probably apply for master programmes in Europe or the UK.”

Taiwans education ministry said it expects 52 Taiwanese students to be affected by the US governments move, the islands official Central News Agency reported.

Another Taiwanese student, who asked to be identified only by his first name Vince, planned to start his public health studies at Harvard in 2025.

“We are certainly feeling pretty nervous, and it’s been a dream for me to come from a small town in Taiwan all the way to Harvard,” he said.

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