New Study: Foreign Students Make U.S. Better, Faster

11/17/2013

Researchers say the U.S. should make it easier for foreign students to stay in the country after they finish their degrees.

Welcome back to As It Is.

Today we will be talking about people who move to the United States from other countries.

Some are immigrants who bring their traditions with them. On our show, we look at families from Latin American nations. Many of them celebrate a young woman’s quinceañera—that is, her 15th birthday.

But first, we talk about foreign students in the United States. A new report says the government should make it easier for foreigners working toward high-level degrees to stay in the country.

Mario Ritter has this report from VOA’s Joe DeCapua.

The United States educates many foreign students, especially in areas like science and engineering. But what do international students add to the country after they finish their study programs?

Three economists decided to investigate. The head of the team was Keith Maskus, a professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He says after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. made it much harder for students from some parts of the world to enter graduate programs.

At the time, many American officials and educators warned that limiting foreign students would harm scientific development and innovation.