With many American universities holding online courses this semester because of the pandemic, faculty members at Princeton, Harvard and other elite schools are looking for ways to protect the privacy and identity of students logging in from Hong Kong and China, where they are subject to China’s repressive rules on self-expression.

The Hong Kong National Security Law that passed in June allows Chinese authorities to prosecute any foreign institution, organization or individuals, regardless of their location, if they are involved in any action deemed to be a crime. Legal scholars say the law opens the door for a wide range of political prosecutions.

Samuel Chu, a Chinese American originally from Hong Kong, could be one of the first prosecuted. He faces an arrest warrant after he lobbied the U.S. Congress to punish China for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Faculty members at several top universities want to protect those taking their courses from ending up in a similar position. They are proposing options for students who may be concerned about being punished for their personal views.

In a recently published article, faculty from Harvard University, Princeton University, Amherst College, Syracuse University and Texas University at Austin proposed allowing students to opt out of class discussions without affecting their grades and enabling students to participate anonymously in virtual classroom discussions.

'Warning labels'

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that a professor at the University of Pennsylvania is considering incorporating “warning labels” for potentially sensitive information into the class syllabus.

The moves are raising concerns that China’s new expansive security laws are eroding academic freedom in the United States.

“I think it is very troubling that they would, for instance, place warning labels on classes that Beijing might consider sensitive,” said Christopher Balding, an associate professor at Fulbright University Vietnam who also taught in China for nine years.

“That is indicative of a creepy censorship by Beijing. Even if it's not explicit, even if it is not mandated by law, it is very clearly indicative of the influence that Beijing censorship is having in the United States,” Balding said.

Aaron Ach, a member of the Princeton class of 2019, wrote a thesis on China’s foreign policy. He told VOA that that open conversations with his Chinese classmates were vital to his work.

“So, while I don't think it's necessarily an overreaction, I am concerned that universities’ efforts to anonymize classroom participation in light of this national security object directive, rather, is a signal from highly respected, highly globalized elite U.S. universities to Beijing that Beijing can have its way,” Ach said.

VOA contacted Harvard Business School, Amherst College and Princeton University about their official policies on protecting the identities of students and faculty but has not received a response.

In an email to VOA, Meg Rithmire, an associate professor at Harvard Business School and one of the co-authors of the article, noted that the measures can be implemented in a targeted manner without disrupting non-sensitive classroom discussions.

“The important thing … is not just letting anyone 'opt out' of any conversation,” she wrote. She said there should be ways to allow “conversations on issues the Chinese government (or other governments) deem out of bounds while protecting legal risks to students.”

Missing opportunity?

Some also argue that by taking the additional measures, universities may also be missing an opportunity to speak out against Beijing’s national security law, or even are giving tacit support to China’s censorship.

“The U.S. government and U.S. universities have a unique opportunity right now … to condemn a Chinese foreign policy that not only threatens the well-being of Chinese students who are seeking an education in the U.S., but also that threatens to undermine the academic missions and the liberal arts foundations of elite U.S. institutions,” Ach said.

Balding said that although the universities’ desire to protect their students is reasonable, the schools also have rarely spoken out against Beijing’s policies in the past, which makes their recent actions more troublesome.

“(American) universities have absolutely no track record of speaking out about China. They have no track record about how they have sought to address historical concerns about Chinese behavior,” Balding said. “And they appear intent on engaging in a series of practices, such as accepting Chinese money and hiding it in violation of U.S. law, as well as other practices such as arguing against reasonable visa restrictions against PLA graduate students in science programs in the United States.”

This year, the Department of Justice has announced a series of prosecutions against academics who hid ties to Beijing, as well as Chinese funding.

Ach, now a cybersecurity professional, said the problem of protecting academic freedom from Chinese surveillance is becoming much bigger than just a few university courses.

He said that ultimately, both the U.S. government and universities must keep China off their networks in the first place.

“That will mean not only hardening cyber defenses and spending more on security, but it also means that the U.S. government and U.S. universities will have to work together and go to greater lengths to protect the Chinese, and frankly, other students who are apparently of interest to the Chinese state,” he said.

It’s tough to gain admission to Yale University, and it’s getting even tougher for international students as standout students from around the world set their sights on Yale.

The Yale Dale News, the campus newspaper, takes a look at the situation here.

Read the full story here.

Ruth Chane, a computer science major from Ethiopia, writes about her experiences settling into student life at Whitman College in the U.S. state of Washington.

"The community at Whitman College made sure I felt welcomed even before I stepped foot on campus," she says.

Read her essay here.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.

STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)

U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.

Read the full story here. (January 2025)

US News & World Report details the three top factors in foreign students' decision to study in the U.S. They include research opportunities and the reputation of U.S. degrees. Read the full story here. (December 2024)

A British student who did a year abroad at Bowling Green State University in Ohio talks about adjusting to life in America in a TikTok video, Newsweek magazine reports.

Among the biggest surprises? Portion sizes, jaywalking laws and dorm room beds.

Read the full story here. (December 2024)

Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health reaches out to international students by detailing the international student experience at the school.

Learn more about housing, life in Boston and more here.

China issued its first national action plan to build a "strong education nation" by 2035, which it said would help coordinate its education development, improve efficiencies in innovation and build a "strong country."

The plan, issued Sunday by the Communist Party's central committee and the State Council, aims to establish a "high quality education system" with accessibility and quality "among the best in the world."

The announcement was made after data on Friday showed China's population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, with the number of deaths outpacing a slight increase in births, and experts cautioning that the downturn will worsen in the coming years.

High childcare and education costs have been a key factor for many young Chinese opting out of having children, at a time when many face uncertainty over their job prospects amid sluggish economic growth.

"By 2035, an education power will be built," the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that China would explore gradually expanding the scope of free education, increase "high-quality" undergraduate enrolment, expand postgraduate education, and raise the proportion of doctoral students.

The plan aims to promote "healthy growth and all-round development of students," making sure primary and secondary school students have at least two hours of physical activity daily, to effectively control the myopia, or nearsightedness, and obesity rates.

"Popularizing" mental health education and establishing a national student mental health monitoring and early warning system would also be implemented, it said.

It also aims to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas to improve the operating conditions of small-scale rural schools and improve the care system for children with disabilities and those belonging to agricultural migrant populations.

The plan also aims to steadily increase the supply of kindergarten places and the accessibility of preschool education.

The Open Notebook, a site focusing on educating journalists who cover science, has complied a list of U.S. graduate program financial aid information for international students.

Read it here.