International students worry about the future
A Mount Holyoke College student from Nepal spoke to The Boston Globe about the current Trump administration’s threats to international students.
On May 22, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard University’s certification to admit international students. Fox News asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem whether she was considering similar moves at other universities. “Absolutely, we are,” Noem said. “This should be a warning to every other university to get [its] act together.”
Rising senior Shrestha ’26, who asked to be identified by only her last name, is a Mount Holyoke College student from Nepal. She told The Boston Globe that she’s scared to visit home for fear she won’t be allowed back into the United States.
“Being told not to go home and then also being forced to stay but not knowing exactly where to stay, while also being low income and first generation, it’s sort of destabilizing,” said Shrestha, who is pursuing a double major in international relations and South Asian studies.
Massachusetts has the third highest international student population in the U.S., behind California and New York. International students comprise approximately 20% of the current undergraduate population at Mount Holyoke, and economic and academic leaders have warned that losing these students could hurt the region’s economy and limit the academic rigor that has fueled scientific discovery for decades.
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