Institute of International Education (IIE) (Washington, D.C., USA)

From THE TIMES OF INDIA
November 19, 2001

US TO KEEP DOORS OPEN FOR STUDENTS

CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA

WASHINGTON: India's army of US-bound students and scholars can breathe easy. American liberal educators and university officials have stymied a proposal to impose a six-month moratorium on foreign students coming to the United States.

The visa moratorium move, arising from the September 11 catastrophe, was the brainchild of California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who suggested that potential terrorists could use the student visa route to enter the United States. If the proposal had gone through, it would have affected the plans of hundreds of thousands of Indian students who aspire to study in the US each year. According to the latest report titled "Open Doors" issued by the Institute of International Education, a record 54,664 Indian students came to American universities in the year 2000-2001, a 30 per cent increase over the previous year. The number of Indian students coming to the US is now second only to China (59,939) and the gap is closing rapidly.

Indians now account for about ten per cent of all foreign students entering (547,667) the United States. Nearly 50 per cent of Indians come to study engineering, mathematics and computer sciences, although the number of those opting for management studies and fine arts is also increasing rapidly. The Indian tally does not include the substantial number of students who go to Canada.

University officials who lobbied successfully against the Feinstein proposals argued that the United States had more gain financially and academically from foreign student inflow as opposed to any misplaced move to stop them. They also maintained that the move would go against the American ideal of promoting international educational exchanges and democracy.

Besides, students account for only 2 per cent of all visa holders and the number of students from countries identified as state sponsors of terrorism was very low.

While Feinstein is reported to have agreed to drop the moratorium proposal, lawmakers and the administration are still on track to tighten immigration policies. Although the focus has shifted to illegal aliens and those who overstay their visas, the foreign student community is not exempt from the scrutiny.

Reports from campuses speak of law enforcement authorities, including FBI agents, questioning hundreds of foreign students, particularly those from the Middle-East and other Muslim countries. They are being asked about their background, political views, and why they chose to study a particular course. Many students from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have left for home midway through the academic year.

The Pakistani community is also reporting large-scale racial profiling. Pakistans military ruler Pervez Musharraf raised the matter during his meeting with President Bush.

Although there have been stray cases of harassment of Indian students by locals, there have been no reports of any official profiling. Indians are also in a different league academically and have two unique characteristics.

Nearly 75 per cent of Indian students come to the United States for graduate studies and only 25 per cent for undergraduate studies. The ratio is about the opposite for most other countries. Some 30 per cent of Indian students coming to the United States are female.

The dropping of the visa moratorium proposal clears the way for students applying for the Spring 2002 semester. But officials say visa aspirants will face a much tougher scrutiny, including giving a commitment to stick to their visa schedules after they finish their studies.

Most students now use various ploys to stay on in the US after their studies while they hunt for jobs. Feinsteins bill still has in place a proposal to institute a tracking system to monitor student movements after they finish studies.

Copyright 2001 Financial Times Information
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Global News Wire
Copyright 2001 The Times of India. Bennett, Coleman Co Ltd
The Times of India

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