[IP] more on ?? U.S. Is Losing Its Dominance in the Sciences
Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 10:00:41 -0400
From: Claudio Gutiérrez <cgutierrez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IP] U.S. Is Losing Its Dominance in the Sciences
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Colleges get a hard lesson in making the US secure
By Christopher Grimes in New York
Applications to US colleges from China, India and western Europe have
dropped dramatically this year. The decline - which included a 76 per cent
drop in Chinese graduate applications this year - is raising concerns that
the US could lose a longtime source of competitive advantage in research,
science and engineering.
University officials put part of the blame on stringent visa requirements
enacted after September 11. A recent government study showed that science
students faced waits averaging 67 days for security checks to be completed
last year. Students in parts of India waited up to 12 weeks to be
interviewed for visas.
At Michigan State University, such delays caused some visiting scholars to
miss part of the academic year.
Lobbying pressure by colleges has already prompted the State Department to
begin streamlining the visa application process. An electronic system for
submitting security checks is expected to speed up the process.
But US university officials worry that the visa issue is only part of the
problem. Universities in Britain, Canada and Australia have launched
aggressive recruiting efforts that have attracted increased international
student applications.
International students pump about $13bn a year into the US economy,
according to the Institute of International Education, which administers
the prestigious US government-backed Fulbright scholarships. But beyond
their immediate economic impact, university officials say they benefit the
US in myriad other ways - including taking home positive ideas about the US.
Lawrence Summers, president of Harvard, last week warned Colin Powell, the
secretary of state, that the decline in foreign students threatens the
quality of research coming from US universities. "If the next generation of
foreign leaders are educated elsewhere, we also will have lost the
incalculable benefits derived from their extended exposure to our country
and its democratic values," Mr Summers wrote to Mr Powell.
Some officials at US universities are concerned that anti-US sentiment has
contributed to the falling numbers. Danielle Guichard-Ashbrook, associate
dean for international students at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, says she is concerned that the the US no longer seems
"welcoming" to foreign students. International applications to MIT's
graduate programmes fell by 17 per cent this year. "Applications are down
across the country. Is it because students have tried to apply but had
trouble, or is it the perception that the US is not friendly? I think it's
more of the latter," she says.
The extent of the problem was highlighted by a recent study by the Council
of Graduate Schools. The survey showed that graduate applications from
international students fell 32 per cent over the last year. The worst
declines were from China and India, followed by the Middle East, Korea and
western Europe.
Though alarming to US university officials, these figures are unlikely to
translate into big falls in enrolment in the next academic year because
universities are still oversubscribed, albeit less so than they have been
in previous years.
Peter Briggs, director of Michigan state's office for international
students and scholars, says he is pleased with the quality of applicants
for the 2004-2005 academic year.
"What we don't know is whether this is the beginning of a longer trend
line, where competition from the UK, Australia and Canada is going to be
more attractive because the US has sent out unwelcoming signals," he says.
Regardless of the cause, university officials say they are concerned about
the consequenc es of falling applications - particularly at a time when the
US needs to promote a positive image abroad.
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