Thread: Just who are foreign students studying in the U.S?

Just who are foreign students studying in the U.S?

April 14, 2013, at 5:03 PM

With the immigration debate about to ramp up again this week, lawmakers are awash in data from advocates on both sides. The central debate will be about the best, most efficient, most secure way to bring undocumented immigrants into the light. But equally as important for the future engine of economic growth is the debate over visas for foreign students and incentives to get them to stay in the U.S. Weirdly, until very recently, those outside the government didn't have a full picture of those who've come here to study. A FOIA request by a Brookings researcher has turned up some very interesting results.

In 2010, nearly 700,000 foreign students studied here — that's about 21 percent of all those who took their college-level instruction outside their home countries.

A full 61 percent come from Asia, with a plurality — 25 percent — coming from China, followed by India (13 percent) and South Korea (9 percent).

Not surprisingly, most students apply for schools in cosmopolitan coastal cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Still, middle America has a much higher percentage of foreign students relative to their native-born students, particularly the big state universities.

How hard is it, under the current visa system, to retain the students who do science, math, and engineering work? About 1 out of every 5 gets sponsored for an H-1B visa, which allows them to stay and work for six years. Generally, one out of every seven F-1 visa students is sponsored and accepted for an H-1B work visa.

And now you know why corporations would love to expand this system. And you also see the policy conundrum: Foreign students who can stay and take high-paying tech/engineering and science jobs crowd out American students applying for the same positions. Of course, the supply of students with degrees and expertise creates its own demand.
　
http://theweek.com/article/index/242...ying-in-the-us

Engineering Schools With the Most International Students

Foreign students account for roughly 86 percent of full-time enrollment, on average, at these programs.

By Kelsey Sheehy
April 2, 2013 RSS Feed Print

The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.


The United States is a sought-after destination for international graduate students, particularly those pursuing degrees in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math).

[Get firsthand advice from other international students.]

International students accounted for 57 percent of full-time enrollment in U.S. graduate engineering programs in fall 2012, up 3 percentage points from the previous year, according to data reported by 190 ranked institutions.

But the share of foreign students varies from school to school. At Michigan's Lawrence Technological University, for example, roughly 10 percent of the school's 78 full-time graduate engineering students hail from outside of the U.S.

[Find tips for international engineering applicants.]

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, which enrolled 303 full-time graduate engineering students in fall 2012. Nearly 95 percent were international students.

Bridgeport's School of Engineering is an anomaly, even among engineering schools with high concentrations of foreign students, and tops the list of graduate engineering programs with the most international students. At these schools, foreign-born students accounted for roughly 86 percent of full-time enrollment in fall 2012.

[Learn why engineering grads have strong job prospects.]

Several of the schools that boast a large percentage of international students are designated as Rank Not Published (RNP) in the 2014 Best Engineering Schools rankings. U.S. News calculates a rank for all RNP institutions, but does not publish them. Graduate engineering programs with fewer than 20 full-time students were not considered for this report. Neither were schools designated as Unranked, which did not submit enough data for U.S. News to calculate a rank.

Below are the engineering schools with the highest percentage of full-time international students for fall 2012. Due to ties, there are 11 schools on this list.


Engineering school (name) (state)

Full-time enrollment (fall 2012)

Percentage of international students

U.S. News engineering school rank

University of Bridgeport (CT) 303 94.4 RNP
University of Missouri—Kansas City 123 88.6 RNP
Syracuse University (NY) 753 87 76
Illinois Institute of Technology (Armour) 1,059 86.9 72
Lamar University (TX) 159 86.8 RNP
University of Texas—Dallas (Jonsson) 1,350 86.1 76
Wichita State University (KS) 283 84.8 105
Northeastern University (MA) 2,034 83.9 57
University of North Texas 316 83.5 RNP
University at Buffalo—SUNY (NY) 1,232 83.4 61
University of Houston (Cullen) 845 83.4 76

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Engineering School Compass to find enrollment data, average GRE scores and much more.

U.S. News surveyed more than 190 schools for our 2012 survey of engineering programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News's data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Engineering Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools. The enrollment data above are correct as of April 2, 2013.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best...ional-students

Foreign Students (F-1) in Public Schools

Overview
There are limitations and requirements related to foreign (F-1) students attending public secondary/high schools (grades nine through twelve), under U.S. law. Student F-1 visas cannot be issued to persons seeking to enter the United States in order to attend a public primary/elementary school or a publicly funded adult education program.

Dependents of a nonimmigrant visa holder of any type, including F-1, are not prohibited from attendance at either a public primary school, an adult education program, or another public educational institution, as appropriate.

Requirements List
Secondary school attendance is limited to twelve months.
F-1 secondary school students are required to pay the school the full cost of education by repaying the school system for the full, unsubsidized, per capita cost of providing the education to him or her.
F-1 students are prohibited from attending public elementary schools or publicly-funded adult education programs.
Restrictions are for F-1 Students Only
The following restrictions apply to foreign students who are:

Students in F-1 status who need an I-20 to study in the United States;
Students in F-1 status in public schools who leave the United States and want to return to continue their studies; and
Students in F-1 status who want to transfer from a private school or program into a public school or program.
The following restrictions do not apply to foreign students who are:

Students in another visa status (i.e., J-2, L-1, M-2, or G-4) or
Students in F-1 status who attend private schools or private training or language programs.
How is the 12 month attendance limit applied?
The length of study indicated on the Form I-20 must be limited to 12 months. It should be noted that public secondary attendance in a status other than F-1 does not count against the 12-month limit. For example, if you were the child of an A-2 visa holder previously attending secondary school, this would not count toward the 12 month limit.

Students Must Pay the Costs of Secondary School Education
Foreign students who want to attend public secondary school (high school) must pay the full cost of education. This amount is listed under "tuition" on the student's Form I-20. If the Form I-20 does not include the cost of tuition, the student must have a notarized statement, signed by the designated school official (DSO) who signed the Form I-20, stating the full cost of tuition and that the student paid the tuition in full. The full, unsubsidized per capita (for each student) cost of education is the cost of providing education to each student in the school district where the public school is located. Costs normally range between $3000 and $10,000. The student secondary school cost reimbursement requirement is mandatory and school systems cannot waive the reimbursement requirement.

Can our school waive the tuition requirement for a high school student?
No. The law does not allow a student in F-1 status to attend public secondary school without paying tuition. The student must pay the full, unsubsidized per capita (for each student) cost of education in all cases.

Does the Section 625 of the law affect all foreign students?
No. The law affects only students in F-1 status, or applicants for F-1 visas, who plan to attend public schools or publicly funded adult education. The law does not affect other students, such as children of exchange visitors, diplomats or foreign workers.

How does the law affect F-1 students in private schools?
Students who attend private schools or privately funded adult education or language programs are not affected by the law. However, if a private school student wants to transfer to a public school or a publicly funded adult education or language program, he or she must follow the requirements of Section 625 of Public Law 104-208.

Can adult education programs issue I-20s if we charge full tuition?
The law prohibits the issuance of F-1 visas to attend publicly funded adult education programs. Publicly funded adult education is defined as: "Education, training or English as second language programs operated by, through, or for a local public school district, system, agency or authority, regardless of whether such a program charges fees or tuition." Programs under this definition cannot accept students in F-1 status, even if tuition is charged.

Can organizations or individuals sponsor an F-1 student to attend public secondary school?
Yes. Nothing in the law prevents an organization or an individual from paying the full tuition costs for the student. However, the payment cannot come from public funds. The student must still show that he or she has sufficient funds to cover education and living expenses while in the United States.

Can students come to live with U.S. citizen relatives while attending public school?
Foreign students may come to the U.S. to live with U.S. citizen relatives while attending public school. The child is limited to twelve months of study in secondary school (high school). The child may not study in elementary school. It should be noted however, that the student's status as a resident of the school district and the fact that the U.S. citizen has paid local property/school taxes is irrelevant and does not fulfill the cost reimbursement requirement of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) 214 (m). Therefore, the full tuition costs must be paid to the school or school district.

Additional Web Resources
For more information about studying in the U.S., you may also visit the student visa webpage and www.ice.gov/sevis.

References - U.S. Law
In 1996 Congress enacted a law, Section 625 of Public Law 104-208, establishing section 214(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, placing limitations on foreign students (F-1) attending publicly funded institutions.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1269.html