Research Finds International Students Become Valuable Immigrants

International students contribute work and skills that make them valuable to America, according to economists. Opponents of immigration favor more restrictive laws against international students and their ability to work in the United States after graduation, largely because immigration opponents want to see a smaller supply of labor (which would harm the economy). Economists view more workers as positive because an increase in labor force growth propels economic growth and leads to a higher standard of living. At U.S. universities, international students account for 74% of the full-time graduate students in electrical engineering and 72% in computer and information sciences, as well as 50% to 70% in fields that include mathematics and materials sciences, according to a National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis. One-quarter of billion-dollar startup companies in the United States have a founder who first came to America as an international student, creating an average of 860 jobs per company. New research finds international students are valuable as a source of workers. “From 2000 and 2015, between 500,000 and one million of international students graduated each year from American universities with a bachelor’s or a master’s degree,” concluded economists Michel Beine (University of Luxembourg), Giovanni Peri (University of California, Davis) and Morgan Raux (University of Luxembourg) in a paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. “These students represent a potentially valuable investment for the US educational system if they enter U.S. labor markets after graduation. MORE FOR YOU Don't show me this again|Close You found the Forbes Snowman! Enter Sweepstakes The Inside Story Of Papa John's Toxic Culture Aaron Judge’s Big Gamble Forces An Historic Payout From The New York Yankees What A Mid-Season Contract Extension Could Look Like For Indiana Pacers Center Myles Turner “We find that about 23% of international master’s graduates transition in the short run to a within-state job, so that one more foreign master’s graduate increases the local supply of skilled workers by about 0.23 workers. Furthermore, evidence suggests that most of the foreign graduates who transition into U.S. employment find their first job within the state of their university. “These estimates have important implications for labor markets and immigration policy. For example, in 2020, the number of foreign enrollment (graduate and masters) dropped from 400,000 students on F-1 visas to about 100,000 due to Covid. Our estimates imply that this loss of 300,000 students will translate in 30,000 to 60,000 fewer foreign bachelor’s and master’s graduates working in the U.S. between 2022 and 2024. Clearly this will worsen the shortages that the U.S. labor market is already experiencing.” (About 12% of international students who receive bachelor’s degree transition to an in-state job.) The authors conclude that 1) the benefits of additional workers come from students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and 2) extending Optional Practical Training (OPT) work permits in 2008 from 12 to 29 months for graduates in STEM fields proved to be a crucial reform. Other research supports the study’s findings about international students. - Sixty percent of the international students at Michigan schools on Optional Practical Training worked in Michigan over the previous 13 years, according to a report from Global Detroit. The study found the students helped fill key roles in the labor market while gaining valuable training. - Madeline Zavodny, an economics professor at the University of North Florida, examined nearly a decade of data on Optional Practical Training and concluded, “The results indicate that the OPT program does not reduce job opportunities for American workers in STEM fields.” The NFAP study found, “A larger number of foreign students approved for OPT, relative to the number of U.S. workers, is associated with a lower unemployment rate among those U.S. workers.” In addition, “Analysis of the data shows unemployment rates are lower in areas with larger numbers of foreign students doing OPT as a share of workers in STEM occupations.” - Over the next decade, up to 100,000 international students annually would stay in the United States and work long-term after graduation if the United States had a good process to obtain permanent residence (a green card), according to a report from FWD.us. The research from Beine, Peri and Raux finds U.S. policy is falling short if the United States wants to compete for talent and gain the benefits of admitting international students. “Our findings show that only 10% to 20% of foreign graduates work in the U.S. even in the short run, likely due to visa and policy restrictions. This significantly dampens the local returns to human capital investments that U.S. universities generate by training international students.” For more information, visit us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/index.html.