New State Department guidance on visa applications is adding to scrutiny of international students that has intensified under President Donald Trump, who has leveraged control of foreign enrollment to press his demands with American colleges.

On the same day the Trump administration asked federal agencies to cut contracts with Harvard University, dozens of students gathered for a rally in support of their international classmates.

Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is approximately 11,923 kilometers away from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, according to a signpost on campus that points to cities around the world. Shrestha, a rising senior, feels that distance acutely every day.

Harvard and the federal government are locked in a battle that boils down to turning over records on international students. But Harvard says it is also about the First Amendment.