Malaysian university opens doors to Harvard’s international students amid US ban

The Trump administration’s decision to restrict Harvard from taking foreign students has cast uncertainty on the future of thousands of international students.

Written by Sunil Dhawan

May 29, 2025 16:34 IST

Harvard international students, Malaysia, Sunway University, Japanese universities, foreign students

Elizabeth Lee, Group CEO at Sunway Education Group and Professor at Sunway University wrote on LinkedIn to offer an alternative route for affected students.

In order to allow students to continue their studies without interruption, universities outside of the United States are opening their doors to Harvard University’s impacted top talent.

First, it was the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) that invited international Harvard University students and those with confirmed Harvard degree offers to continue their academic pursuits at HKUST. Then the Japanese government is urging domestic universities to consider temporarily accepting students enrolled at U.S. schools after Washington’s move to bar foreign students from Harvard University.

The Trump administration’s decision on Thursday has cast uncertainty on the future of thousands of international students. The decision was temporarily stopped by a US judge following a lawsuit from Harvard. The court is hearing the Harvard case again on May 29.

The latest help has been extended by a Malaysian university. Elizabeth Lee, Group CEO at Sunway Education Group & Professor at Sunway University, wrote on LinkedIn to offer an alternative route for affected students.

THE Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025 has officially made Sunway University Malaysia’s highest-ranked private, non-government-linked university.

Here’s what she wrote:

“Dear Sunway and other international students at Harvard,

I am truly sorry to hear you’re all caught in a bind with the US Department of Homeland Security’s recent announcement that Harvard would lose its Student and Exchange Visitor Programme certification, which places the university’s current and incoming international students at serious risk of losing their legal right of passage and abode in the USA.

Please know that you’re most welcome to immediately transfer to us at Sunway Education. We can directly take any students who are affected into our range of programmes at Sunway University. We have a partnership with Arizona State University (ASU) where we can work on the transfer of all your credits earned from Harvard to ASU, or even to any of our own Sun-U degree programmes, which can also earn you additional British certification from Lancaster University.

Come explore this opportunity with us expediently to ensure a least disruptive transition to a much more welcoming and equally vibrant community of learners.”

This article was first uploaded on May twenty-nine, twenty twenty-five, at thirty-four minutes past four in the afternoon.