I was contacted by Onward State to give a response to this article posted by Business Week.  I was only going to write a one paragraph response but ended up writing a few, so here goes.

     There are many reasons for a national decline in international students choosing to study in the United States.  There are many private and public companies that have cut down their research expenditures in 2008 and 2009 due to the recession we are in currently.  This has a direct effect on the funding of research programs at American universities and so there may be less than anticipated graduate positions available all around.  This is just a minor contributor to the national decline in international students enrolling at American institutions.  This is a complicated and complex issue but if we focus on one industry, specifically the information technology (IT) field, we can begin to understand the problem that the United States is facing.

             Throughout this decade we have obviously seen a universal boom in companies investing in IT, making it possible for them to seamlessly integrate business internationally through the use of the Internet, web conferencing, etc. The saying "America, the land of opportunity" implies people must be physically located here to find economic opportunities.  But with IT technology facilitating the way these companies conduct business, the physical location of their employees becomes less important and to many young foreign professionals, America does not have to be the land of opportunity.  With companies choosing to set up branches in countries like India and China due to lower operational costs, these young foreign adults now have the benefit of being educated in their home country and starting their careers with one of these companies that offers a highly attractive salary.  The added, and probably most important benefit, is that it allows these young professionals to stay close to their culture and their families.

            If we examine the immigration issue, the United States has not done a good job retaining  foreigners educated at American institutions.  The H1-B visa is a type of visa that allows highly skilled foreigners to work in the United States and concurrently gives them the option of eventually becoming a permanent resident.   The number of H1-B visas issued to foreign skilled workers is subject to a quota set by Congress every year.  This quota has seen several changes since 1998 and has ranged from 65,000 to 195,000 visas/year.  Most years this quota was reached within several days after the first day applications can be accepted.

            This decline in international students choosing to educate themselves in America will continue in the near future.  If the United States wants to remain competitive in this century, Congress needs to amend current immigration policies to ease the process for foreigners educated in America to stay here after they have completed their education.  The most optimal conditions would be to have an unlimited cap on these H1-B visas with a rolling application process, that way foreign nationals can begin the paperwork as soon as they complete their education and not risk being out of status or illegal.