Guess Who's Not Coming To America? International Students

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: March 2, 2018 at 7:48:19 AM EST
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Guess Who's Not Coming To America? International Students
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> [Note:  This item comes from friend Mike Cheponis.  DLH]
>
> Guess Who's Not Coming To America? International Students
> By Stuart Anderson
> Mar 2 2018
> <https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2018/03/02/guess-whos-not-coming-to-america-international-students/>
>
> International students are America’s “golden goose.” They provide billions of dollars to the U.S. economy every year, 
> subsidize the education of U.S. students and are a key source of talent that  help make American tech companies the 
> envy of the world. So why is the Trump administration trying to drive away international students? More important, is 
> the administration succeeding? New data suggest the answer may be “yes.”
>
> A recent National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) study found, “The number of international students enrolled 
> at U.S. universities declined by approximately 4% between 2016 and 2017, according to an analysis of U.S. Department 
> of Homeland Security data.” The study notes, “The number of international students enrolled at the graduate level in 
> science and engineering fell by 14,730, or 6%, between 2016 and 2017, which represented about half of the overall 
> drop in international students.”
>
> In what could be a significant development, much of the overall decline in international student enrollment is due to 
> fewer individuals from India studying computer science and engineering at the graduate level in 2017. “The number of 
> international students from India enrolled in graduate level programs in computer science and engineering declined by 
> 21%, or 18,590 fewer graduate students, from 2016 to 2017,” the NFAP analysis found.
>
> The data on international students were part of a recent report by the National Science Board, which serves as the 
> board of directors of the National Science Foundation. The source is the U.S. government’s Student and Exchange 
> Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database.
>
> Indian graduate students in computer science and engineering at U.S. universities are a key source of talent for U.S. 
> companies. The decline in their numbers may relate to concerns about working after graduation. Those concerns may be 
> tied to Trump administration policies to make it harder to obtain H-1B visas, administration proposals to eliminate 
> work authorization for the spouses of H-1B visa holders, and the long waits for Indians to obtain employment-based 
> green cards due to the per-country limit and low annual quotas.
>
> Another more direct worry is the Trump administration has published its intention to restrict the ability of 
> international students to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allows for 12 months of 
> work for students. OPT in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields allows for an additional 24 months 
> of work. Educators say OPT makes a U.S. education more practical and “real world.” U.S. employers say the time on OPT 
> improves the chances they can obtain H-1B status for an international student.
>
> Recall that an H-1B visa is typically the only practical way for an international student to work in the United 
> States long-term. However, the annual H-1B quota has been reached for 15 straight years. Companies note they often 
> need two or three attempts before gaining an H-1B for an international student, which means the end of Optional 
> Practical Training, or its curtailment, could make it impossible for many international students ever to work in the 
> United States – and that may be the goal of key Trump administration officials.
>
> A bill introduced in December 2015 by then-Senator Jeff Sessions and Sen. Ted Cruz would have, in effect, prohibited 
> international students from working in the United States after graduation. The bill eliminated Optional Practical 
> Training and required anyone without a Ph.D. to work outside the U.S. for 10 years before obtaining an H-1B visa. The 
> bill imposed such extreme conditions that even those with Ph.D.’s would have been unlikely to get a visa.
>
> Trump immigration advisor Stephen Miller, who press reports indicate controls most of the administration’s 
> immigration agenda, is a former Sessions staffer. Individuals who worked for organizations or Senators with animus 
> toward international students and employment-based immigrants also fill many other key executive branch immigration 
> policy positions.
>
> As noted in previous columns, “merit-based immigration” in the Trump administration means fewer immigrants, not 
> making it easier for any actual high-skilled foreign nationals to immigrate to or stay in America.
>
> Research has shown a positive connection between international students and U.S. student enrollment. “At the graduate 
> level, international students do not crowd-out, but actually increase domestic enrollment,” according to a study by 
> economist Kevin Shih. “Foreign student tuition revenue is used to subsidize the cost of enrolling additional domestic 
> students.”
>
> We can see this in real-time, as a lower number of international students at some universities have already resulted 
> in budget cuts and fewer course offerings for U.S. students. “Just as many universities believed that the financial 
> wreckage left by the 2008 recession was behind them, campuses across the country have been forced to make new rounds 
> of cuts, this time brought on, in large part, by a loss of international students,” reported the New York Times in 
> January. Wright State in Ohio, for example, eliminated programs for Italian, Russian and Japanese after international 
> student enrollment declined.
>
> [snip]
>
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