Policy Implications of International Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars in the United States (2005) / Chapter Skim
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1 International Science and Engineering Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars in the United States
1 International Science and Engineering Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars in the United States
Pages 17-65
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doctoral degrees awarded to foreign students, 4 times the number awarded to students from Europe. Scholarly visitors gained clear legal status in 1952, when the Immigration and Nationality Act first offered the F visa for those pursuing academic studies and the J visa for exchange visitors.
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) Germany includes East Germany, West Despite the growing presence of international S&E graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, the data gathered by different sources on their numbers and activities are difficult to compare (see Box 1-1)
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high level of participation of foreign-born scientists and engineers in US laboratories and classrooms warrants increased efforts to understand this phenomenon and to ensure that policies regarding their movement and activities are adequate. This chapter summarizes some of the effects of international scientists and engineers on the US S&E enterprise, economy, national security, and other national interests.
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TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE-STUDENT ENROLLMENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL APPOINTMENTS The total number of S&E graduate students in US institutions has grown consistently over the last several decades; within that trend, the share of international graduate students has risen from 23.4 percent in 1982 to 34.5 percent in 2002 (see Figure 1-1)
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We turned to the Sigma Xi National Postdoctoral Survey to get information on this population, but the survey was fielded only in 2004, so longitudinal data are not available. 25 percent US-born females, and 39 percent foreign-born.5 Among postdoctoral scholars, the participation rate among temporary residents 5R.B.
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2004. Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering 2002.
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Among them are selectivity of the institution, applicant Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores and undergraduate grade point average, undergraduate major, prior research experience, and quality of the applicant's undergraduate institution.
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GRE test scores and undergraduate grades have been shown to have similar predictive power for first-year academic success but not necessarily beyond that.9 One measure is to examine enrollments of temporary residents vs citizens and permanent residents in top-ranked graduate programs, which presumably have their pick of the top-ranked candidates, and enrollments at less highly ranked programs. During the 1990s, when overall domesticstudent enrollments in S&E graduate programs were decreasing, were topranked programs and less highly ranked programs differentially affected?
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. Because the percentage of domestic students does not vary with program quality and this was not affected by tight supply, one can argue that the quality of domestic graduate students is not higher than that of international students.
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First-time enrollments of international S&E graduate students have been tracked only since 2000 by NSF and since 2002 by CGS, and data from both sources are available only to 2002.15 It is therefore difficult to ascertain trends after 2002. In 2002, NSF noted a decrease in first-time full-time S&E graduate enrollments among temporary residents, by about 8 percent for men and 1 percent for women.16 At the same time, first-time full-time S&E graduate-student enrollment increased by almost 14 percent for US citizens and permanent residents -- 15 percent for men and more than 12 percent for women.
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The picture for international graduate-student total full-time enrollments is different. For 2002, NSF reported an 8 percent gain in temporary residents enrolled in S&E graduate programs.
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2004. Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering 2002.
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INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORATES 29 Temporary Residents Citizens and Permanent Residents University of Southern California University of Minnesota University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Ohio State University Cornell University Texas A&M University Harvard University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Purdue University University of Wisconsin, Madison Pennsylvania State University University of Massachusetts Michigan State University University of Florida University of Maryland, College Park University of California, Los Angeles New York University SUNY at Buffalo University of Illinois, Chicago SUNY at Stony Brook Boston University University of Texas, Austin University of Texas, Dallas Illinois Institute of Technology Iowa State University University of Michigan Rutgers the State University of New Jersey Johns Hopkins University Stanford University Indiana University 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 Number of Science Graduate Students FIGURE 1-6 Top 30 institutions for enrollment of temporary-resident science graduate students, 2002.
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have attempted to quantify the effects of visa and immi gration changes on the flow of international graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Both surveys have limitations but they provide potentially useful insights into recent trends.
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, concerned about anecdotal evidence that international graduate enrollments were declining after 2001, performed a survey of PhD-grant ing physics departments in 2003 to complement its annual survey of departments.g AIP found that the proportion of international physics graduate students, after ris ing steadily for several decades to a peak of 55 percent in 2000, declined by 10 percent between 2000 and 2002. What seems to be driving the decline in enrollments is a mix of reduced appli cations and reported difficulties in obtaining nonimmigrant visas.
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18One review of the NIH budget concluded that the dramatic growth of its budget did not result in an increase in new US doctorates or in the number of US citizens in postdoctoral appointments even while the number of international postdoctoral scholars was rising. Howard H
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Korea dm A stseTforeb 40,000 Taiwan 30,000 Germany m 20,000 Nu Mexico 10,000 0 Brazil 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Year of Test Russia FIGURE 1-7 Graduate school entrance examinations. SOURCE: Data are from the Educational Testing Service and are available at http: //ftp.ets.org/pub/gre/volumes_00_04.pdf.
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A lesson to be learned is that both test-taking and application to US graduate schools can be influenced by factors that may not be apparent at first glance. International Postdoctoral Scholars There is less quantitative information about the career paths and experiences of postdoctoral appointees than of graduate students (see Box 1-1 and the discussion of data needs in Chapter 4)
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The increasing propensity to take a postdoctoral position is not just attributable to the increased number of PhDs being awarded in the life sciences but also strongly correlated with the increased population of international graduate students,24 many of whom move into postdoctoral positions. Where Do International Postdoctoral Scholars Come From?
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. Of postdoctoral scholars on temporary visas, almost 80 percent had earned their PhDs outside the United States.
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. One conclusion that can be drawn from the numbers is that the United States is benefiting from an inflow of postdoctoral scholars who have received graduate support and training elsewhere.
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SOURCE: Data for Figures 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, and 1-21 are from the Sigma Xi National Postdoctoral Survey. 22,178 postdoctoral scholars at 46 institutions were contacted, including 18 of the 20 largest academic employers of postdoctoral scholars and NIH.
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International and domestic academic postdoctoral scholars expressed similar satisfaction with their training experience (see Figure 1-11)
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Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. international graduate students increased.28 There is considerable discussion about whether the presence of high numbers of international graduate students in some fields can make those fields less appealing to US students 28 From 1993 to 2001, for example, numbers of US citizens and permanent resident graduate students dropped by 10 percent (with numbers of white males dropping by 26 percent)
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Furthermore, of US students in doctoral nuclear-science programs, only 5 percent had a master's degree, whereas over 50 percent of international students had completed a master's degree before starting doctoral work in the United States.30 Even so, it appears that US students catch up in content knowledge by the second or third year of graduate study, and the time to degree does not differ between international and domestic students. As the numbers of S&E baccalaureate degrees awarded to members of underrepresented minority groups has increased, there has not been a concomitant increase in graduate-school enrollments.31 However, it is not clear whether women or underrepresented minority-students are being displaced or are choosing other career paths.
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In this "natural experiment" following 9-11, the number of international graduate-student applications and admissions fell dramatically. During the same period, domestic-student applications remained flat, and admissions decreased.
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38Borjas has indicated that an immigration-induced 10 percent increase in the supply of doctorates in a particular field at a particular time reduces the earnings of that cohort of doctorates by about 3-4 percent. About half this adverse wage effect was attributed to the increased prevalence of low-pay postdoctoral appointments in fields that have softer labormarket conditions because of large-scale immigration.
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Although undergraduate and some master's students usually pay their own tuition through family or other sources, most graduate students do not. At the undergraduate level, international students on F-1 visas generally cannot obtain residence for tuition purposes and are therefore subject to nonresident tuition fees (NRTs)
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and research assistants (RAs) , but these waivers vary considerably by state, within state campuses, and even by departments within an institution.44 If funding is available, individual S&E departments also offer to cover tuition charges, using research grant funds, to attract and retain talented international graduate students.
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is reduced by 75% for PhD students who have advanced to candidacya,b University of Florida Tuition charges waiveda University of Illinois at Tuition charges waived for TAs and RAs Urbana-Champaign with a minimum 25% through 67% appointment; the tuition waiver varies between a "base-rate" and a "full" waiver, depending on the graduate program in which the student is enrolled; the base-rate waiver is for the lowest, in-state tuition rate, and the full waiver covers the tuition as assessed, whether resident or nonresidenta,c University of Kansas NRT waived for TAs and RAs with 50% appointmentsa,b University of Maryland at College Park No waiverd University of Michigan at Ann Arbor Tuition charges waiveda,e State and Federal Funding Sources Like domestic graduate students, international graduate students are typically subsidized by federal, state, university, foundation, and other sources. Many are supported by research assistantships (RAs)
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Smaller numbers of students receive fellowships or scholarships from various sources.45 The types of funding are similar for both domestic and international graduate students, but the mix of funding is different (see Figure 1-14) , partly because of restrictions on access to specific funding streams.
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Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. Other: support from the student or scholar's institution of higher education, state and local government, foreign sources, nonprofit institutions, or private industry; traineeships: educational awards given to students selected by the institution or by a federal agency; research assistantships: support for students whose assigned duties are primarily in research; teaching assistantships: support for students whose assigned duties are primarily in teaching.
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Critics also list the incremental costs of educating international graduate students, including costs for recruitment, verification of credentials, international-visitor offices, English classes, and for some, early admission to allow time for acculturation. Stay Rates of International Graduate Students Clearly, both domestic and international scientists and engineers have an opportunity to make a lasting impact on the US economy.
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Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. Non-Federal Sources: support from the institution of higher education, state and local government, foreign sources, nonprofit institutions, or private industry; research grants: support from federal agencies to a principal investigator, under whom postdoctoral scholars work; traineeships: educational awards given to scholars selected by the institution or by a federal agency; fellowships: competitive awards given directly to scholars for financial support of their graduate or postdoctoral studies.
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. The Sigma Xi postdoctoral survey50 found that the United States was the most attractive place to settle for postdoctoral scholars of all nationalities, regardless of where the PhDs were earned.
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52 POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS A US S&E Occupations: Bachelor's Degree and Higher 3,500,000 3,000,000 2,500,000 ofWorkers 2,000,000 1980 1990 1,500,000 2000 Number 1,000,000 500,000 0 US-born All foreign- Asia-10 born (except US) OECD EU-15 Place of Birth B US S&E Occupations: Doctorates 300,000 250,000 200,000 Workers 1990 of 150,000 2000 100,000 Number 50,000 0 US-born All Foreign- Asia-10 OECD EU-15 born (except US)
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2004. The contribution of skilled immigration and international graduate students to U.S.
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54 Social Sciences 9,000 2,000 37,000 14,000 12,000 4,000 Physical Sciences 92,000 21,000 21,000 46,000 and Sciences 6,000 21,000 370,000 197,000 146,000 2000 Mathematics Computer 6,000 8,000 Occupations, Life Sciences 52,000 10,000 28,000 S&E US in 5,000 28,000 Engineering 265,000 132,000 100,000 S&E Foreign-Born 25,000 All 816,000 365,000 291,000 135,000 of Number degree 1-5 degree degree degree college-educated TABLE All Bachelor's Master's Professional Doctoral
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INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORATES 55 A Engineering 4,000 Citizens and Permanent 3,500 Residents 3,000 Temporary 2,500 Residents Doctorates of 2,000 Temporary 1,500 Residents Number Staying 1,000 500 Temporary Residents 0 Leaving 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year PhD Awarded B Life Sciences Citizens and 7,000 Permanent Residents 6,000 5,000 Temporary Residents 4,000 Doctorates of 3,000 Temporary 2,000 Residents Number Staying 1,000 0 Temporary 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Residents Year PhD Awarded Leaving FIGURE 1-19 Plans to stay in the United States after earning doctorate, by field of study. SOURCE: National Science Foundation.
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56 POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS C Physical Sciences 6,000 Citizens and Permanent Residents 5,000 Temporary 4,000 Residents Doctorates 3,000 of Temporary 2,000 Residents Staying Number 1,000 Temporary Residents 0 Leaving 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year PhD Awarded D Social Sciences 6,000 Citizens and Permanent 5,000 Residents Temporary 4,000 Residents Doctorates 3,000 of Temporary Residents 2,000 Staying Number 1,000 Temporary Residents Leaving 0 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Year PhD Awarded FIGURE 1-19 Continued
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INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORATES 57 A Total S&E Doctorates 40,000 35 Citizenship at Time 30 of PhD 30,000 25 Residents Citizens 20 Change Citizenship Increase of 20,000 by 2001 15 10 Number Permanent 10,000 % Increase from 5 Percentage Year Degree and 0 0 Awarded to 2001 1999-2001 1997-1998 1995-1996 Year PhD Awarded B Engineering 7,000 35 Citizenship at Time 6,000 30 of PhD 5,000 25 Residents Citizens Change 4,000 20 Citizenship Increase of 3,000 15 by 2001 2,000 10 % Increase from Number Permanent 1,000 5 Percentage Year Degree and 0 0 Awarded to 2001 1999-2001 1997-1998 1995-1996 Year PhD Awarded FIGURE 1-20 Changes in US citizenship among US-awarded doctorates in S&E. SOURCE: National Science Foundation.
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58 POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS C Life Sciences 15,000 35 Citizenship at Time 30 of PhD 10,000 25 Change Residents Citizens 20 Citizenship Increase of 15 by 2001 5,000 10 % Increase from Permanent 5 Percentage Number Year Degree 0 and 0 Awarded to 2001 1999-2001 1997-1998 1995-1996 Year PhD Awarded D Physical Sciences 10,000 35 Citizenship at Time 30 of PhD 8,000 25 Residents Citizens 6,000 Change Citizenship Increase 20 of by 2001 4,000 15 10 Permanent % Increase from Number 2,000 Percentage 5 Year Degree and 0 Awarded to 2001 0 1999-2001 1997-1998 1995-1996 Year PhD Awarded E Social Sciences 12,000 35 Citizenship at Time 10,000 30 of PhD 25 Residents 8,000 Change Citizens 20 of 6,000 Citizenship Increase 15 by 2001 4,000 10 Permanent Number 2,000 Percentage % Increase from 5 and Year Degree 0 0 Awarded to 2001 1999-2001 1997-1998 1995-1996 Year PhD Awarded FIGURE 1-20 Continued
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In turn, international graduate students contribute to innovation and patenting in S&E while domestic students do not in the aggregate. Presumably this is because international graduate students are more concentrated in such fields as S&E than are domestic students.
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The proportion of temporary residents going into industry is highest in mathematics (43 percent) , civil engineering (42 percent)
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. That is consistent with research that indicates high stay rates of PhDs from China and India.58 58 Grant Black and Paula Stephan.
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A recent report indicates these programs are a major reason that these laboratories do not have significant problems locating the necessary people to fill critical-skills positions.60 The committee considered additional national security issues but data are not available on what additional risks, if any, an international student may pose versus a domestic student, particularly now that SEVIS and Visas Mantis security screens have been deployed. Certainly, there are inherent risks in relying on international students to fill the nation's critical S&E positions.
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research in engineering and the physical, mathematics, and computer sciences, and recommended that National Security Decision Directive 189 be recognized in DoD basic research contracts. Another NRC report has recommended that international postdoctoral scholars be eligible for federal training grants and fellowships.63 If restrictions on research and the processes to pursue it become too onerous, international scientists may choose to work in other nations, depriving the United States of their contributions to combat broad threats to national security, such as the spread of infectious disease.
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, export controls, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) , and Visas Mantis security checks have been implemented to reduce any potential security risks to the United States posed by international visitors.
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A notable example was the continuing exchange of American and Soviet scientists throughout the Cold War.69 CONCLUSION The participation of international graduate students and postdoctoral scholars is an important part of the research enterprise of the United States. In some fields they make up more than half the populations of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.
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