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EDITORIAL: The Unwelcome Mat: Decline in Foreign Students at American Universities is Real Loss.

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 May 2006, 09:01 CDT

By The Fresno Bee, Calif.

May 02--Since Sept. 11, American universities have had to fight the perception that the United States has become unwelcoming to foreign students.

The University of California at Davis, for example, had 298 international graduate students in 2001 (29.4% of total new graduate school enrollment). This dropped to 188 (16.1%) in 2004. In April, UC Davis director of services for international students and scholars noted that one Chinese student returned to China to visit a sick relative, but was stuck for months because it took so long to approve his return.

Such individual horror stories get around. Students who suffer delays tell others coming along not to bother applying.

In the past, the United States actively promoted international educational exchange as a way to promote long-term understanding. It was a key part of U.S. diplomacy to invite the world's best and brightest to study here, giving them a chance to experience firsthand how we live and how commerce, democracy, justice and other institutions work. American students, too, benefited by having a door on other cultures.

In short, educational exchange was seen as a way of establishing lifelong friendships, allies and trading partners for the United States long after students returned to their home countries.

The United States was the destination of choice for most foreign students wanting to study abroad. But even five years after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, the perception remains that the new visa process is long and complicated, causing delays.

As a result, we're losing students to Great Britain, Australia and Canada. Many overseas families and students, as well as foreign government officials, believe students will not receive student visas before classes start. Before Sept. 11, student visas were usually issued in a matter of days.

The U.S. needs a rigorous screening process, but that doesn't have to mean delays. Waiting times for clearances have been reduced, supposedly from 75 to 14 days. Long-term clearances are supposed to be available, so students can attend conferences, visit family or attend to personal business.

But the perception is still otherwise. The United States should do a better job of touting streamlined visa processes and revitalize international educational exchange, once again, as an important part of long-term diplomacy.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Fresno Bee

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