It is hard to feel sorry for Harvard University.
For two years running, Harvard has come at the bottom of the free speech rankings according to the Foundation Individual Rights and Expression. It has a shameful history of deplatforming speakers and censuring academics who express views at odds with progressive orthodoxy.
But none of this justifies Trump’s punitive ban on international students enrolling at the university. His treatment of Harvard is at least as illiberal as anything the university has done itself.
Trump’s attack on American universities doesn’t stop with Harvard. He has put new international student enrolments at universities across the nation on hold. Even already-enrolled students face uncertainty about whether they will be able to complete their studies in America.
Trump’s moves are being challenged in American courts. Even so, the bans have created a climate of extreme uncertainty. As egregious as they are, they present a unique opportunity for New Zealand.
New Zealand’s universities, like those across the Anglosphere, are highly dependent on income from international students. Their fees effectively subsidise those paid by domestic students.
With the pandemic-related closure of the border in 2020, international enrolments at New Zealand universities plummeted. While numbers have now largely recovered, five years of disruption has done significant financial damage.
Our universities could offer a safe haven for international students in America and reap a windfall in the bargain. If Immigration NZ were to offer fast-track visas to international students, we could pick up American-enrolled students wanting some insurance against the uncertainty there.
Many students will simply want a temporary haven while the American situation plays out. They would hope to return to America if the courts overturn Trump’s bans.
For these students, New Zealand’s Study Abroad programme would be ideal. The scheme enables international students to complete part of their degree here. If things do not improve in America, they could transfer to New Zealand degree programmes later.
More broadly, there are opportunities to pick up far more international students, of higher quality, than in the past. Historically, international students have preferred universities in America, the UK, Canada and Australia to New Zealand’s. But with Trump’s disruption in the US, and Australia and s, New Zealand stands to gain a greater share of the international student market.
In Trump’s parlance, New Zealand “has cards.” All we need to do is play them well.