Reversing the tide: a complex visa process has contributed to a decline in the number of international students coming to the country since 9/11

Black Issues in Higher Education, Nov 4, 2004 by Dahna Chandler

Once at U.S. universities, scholars from countries designated as "repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism," face enhanced surveillance under the 2001 USA Patriot Act. Moreover, The Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 Patriot Act provides strict reporting requirements to the U.S. Attorney General for scholars from those designated countries handling biological agents or other materials used to create weapons.

"Many persevere to go through this process because two-thirds of current research is done here in the U.S. and that's enticing to international students who want access to new materials and new technologies," says Tusimiirwe, who intends to pursue graduate work in industrial psychology.

But declines in the enrollment of international students and scholars in U.S. postsecondary institutions show fewer have the perseverance to go through the process as they feel "caught in the quagmire" between the United States and the rest of the world, Tusimiirwe says. Rather, many foreign nationals, particularly from Islamic nations where the enrollment drop has been steepest, perceive the legal restraints placed on international students as discriminatory. Some believe the new laws actually increase potential terrorism against the United States, since the attendance of fewer international students and scholars in U.S. institutions creates barriers to understanding other people and cultures.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

"[I]t is in our interest for future foreign leaders to come to the U.S. to get an American education, learn American values, and develop life-long friendships with Americans ... the 9/11 Commission specifically recommends that the U.S.... rebuild its scholarship programs," says Sen. Coleman of Minnesota.

However, the impact of these drops in enrollment is not only political, but also economic.

Though comprising just 4.6 percent of the U.S. higher education population, these nearly 600,000 international students and scholars contribute approximately $13 billion to the U.S. economy. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the American education system is the country's fifth largest service sector export. Moreover, two-thirds of international students and scholars are self-funding, with nearly 75 percent of all international student-funding coming from sources outside of the United States.

"It is self-funded students who struggle most obtaining visas because, unlike those sponsored by large research institutions or multinational businesses, they must navigate the visa process virtually unsupported," says Karen Jenkins, president of Brethren Colleges Abroad. Yet, their contribution to some states, like California and New York, is over $1 billion annually and in many states, the revenue they generate outstrips that of professional sports.

Thus, declines in enrollment are deleterious to state economies, as well as institutions, particularly at the graduate level for teaching Also affected are research assistants, medical and dental residents, technical start, scientists, professors, physicians, pharmacists, and a myriad of other professionals staff graduate programs and teaching hospitals. Surveys completed by leading international exchange and higher education organizations show institutions nationwide reporting declines.