Manufacturers: U.S. Should Open Arms to Foreign-Born Students

Urging Congressional Reform: In provocative comments recently, the National Association of Manufacturers, a Washington-based trade group, is urging Congress to actively encourage foreign-born students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math degrees at U.S. colleges and universities. Bemoaning the lack of quality U.S.-born candidates among college graduates, the organization says the U.S. government “should do more to cultivate domestic talent and encourage more American students to pursue” high-level technical degrees. It notes that about half of master’s degree and doctorate-level candidates in the U.S. are foreign nationals. Until the pipeline is filled by promising Americans, however, the U.S. should not turn away foreigners seeking to enroll in colleges here, the association said. Manufacturers are pushing Congress for legislative reform that would enable “highly qualified workers to learn and stay in our country.”