The administration has frozen funding and targeted international students as it presses the university for a stronger response to alleged antisemitism.

Harvard sued the Trump administration on Friday, saying the government's action violates the First Amendment and will have an "immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders." The lawsuit is separate from another filed in April challenging more than $2 billion in federal cuts imposed by the Trump administration.

Because international students are more likely to pay full tuition, they essentially subsidize other students who receive aid, said educational consultant Chuck Ambrose, former president of the University of Central Missouri.