The Trump administration’s move to bar international students from attending Harvard could have wide-ranging implications for the university’s eclectic athletics program.
While a federal judge Friday issued a temporary restraining order that blocked the Department of Homeland Security’s edict regarding international students at Harvard, the school’s athletes may not have much time to decide their next steps, depending on their sport.
Harvard’s athletic department includes 42 Division I sports teams, the highest number in the nation. A review of the university’s online rosters for the 2024-25 season found 182 athletes across all sports listed international hometowns.
Athletes who have earned a degree can enter the NCAA’s transfer portal at any time and be immediately eligible after transferring. At Ivy League schools, which do not allow athletes to participate beyond four years, it is fairly common for athletes who still have NCAA eligibility remaining to go to non-Ivy schools as graduate transfers.
NCAA rules allow undergraduate athletes to transfer and be immediately eligible to compete at a new school if they enter their names in the transfer portal during sport-specific periods.
Transfer windows have come and gone for sports that have concluded their seasons. For…
