Last week I was asked to answer several questions pertaining to international students studying at Columbia College Chicago as part of my day job as Assistant Provost for Global Education. Compiling this data was for a collaborative effort of Chicagoland institutions of higher education and the Illinois state government in response to the DHS proposed rule on D/S.
The final question was "the extent to which a decline in international students would adversely affect certain industries in the State?" There was a quick turn around required for providing the requested data and information but I was able to do some research and prepared the following:
Key Points from
Resources:
- The Illinois Innovation
Index - 2020 University Entrepreneurship Index: Startup Creation Reaches
Record Heights by the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition
noted that “the strength of Illinois’ universities, especially in STEM
fields, attracts students and faculty from around the world. This influx
of talent is vital to both Illinois’ workforce, and the creation of new
businesses. Among university-supported startups founded over the past five
years, an estimated 39 percent were founded or co-founded by foreign-born
students or faculty.[1]
- A May 2018 Pew Research Center report found that of the 54,300
foreign graduates who studied in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area between
2004 and 2016, 68% (37,200) stayed in the Chicagoland area and additional
21,800 foreign graduates arrived from other metro areas to work on OPT. Of
these 59,000 foreign graduates on OPT in the Chicagoland area, 53% held
STEM degrees. Top areas of study for foreign graduates in the Chicagoland
area held degrees in Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support
Services (24%); Engineering (20%); Computer and Information Sciences and
Support Services (19%); Visual and Performing Arts (4%); and, Mathematics
and Statistics (4%).[2]
- The STEM Talent: 2018 Talent
Index: Computer and Data Science Lead the Way by the Illinois Science
& Technology Coalition stated about the critical role of international
students that “Compared with the national average, international students
make up a significantly larger share of STEM graduates in Illinois. In
2017, international students were awarded 29.2 percent of STEM degrees in
the state, compared with 20.5 percent nationally. Illinois ranks fourth
nationally for the number of international students earning STEM degrees.
Since 2013, the number of international students earning STEM degrees from
Illinois universities has nearly doubled—from 3,727 in 2013 to 7,137 in
2017. Computer science degrees awarded in Illinois are especially weighted
toward international students. In 2017, 55 percent of degrees in the field
were awarded to international students, compared with 37.3 percent
nationally. The number of international students receiving computer
science degrees in Illinois has more than tripled over the past five
years—from 638 in 2013 to 2,052 in 2017.”[3]
- A March 2019 Foundation for American Policy Brief study by
Madeline Zavodny found that there is “no evidence that foreign students
participating in the OPT program reduce job opportunities for U.S.
workers. Instead, the evidence suggests that U.S. employers are more
likely to turn to foreign student workers when U.S. workers are scarcer.”
and that “the relative number of foreign students approved for OPT is
negatively related to various measures of the unemployment rate among U.S.
STEM workers. 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.”[4]
Additional Resources
Number of Foreign College Students Staying and Working in
U.S. After Graduation Surges by Neil G. Ruiz & Abby Budiman for Pew
Research Center, May 10, 2018 at https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/05/10/number-of-foreign-college-students-staying-and-working-in-u-s-after-graduation-surges/
Opportunity Lost: The Economic Benefit of Retaining
Foreign-Born Students in Local Economies by Giovanni
Peri & Sara McElmurry for The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, April 2016
at http://giovanniperi.ucdavis.edu/uploads/5/6/8/2/56826033/report_economic_benefit_retaining_foreign-born_students.pdf
-
Recording of the panel discussion
of the report release at https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/publication/opportunity-lost-economic-benefit-retaining-foreign-born-students-local-economies
Optional Practical Training (OPT) and International
Students After Graduation: Human Capital, Innovation, and the Labor Market by Niskanen Center Research Paper by Jeremy L. Neufeld Niskanen Center
by Neufeld, March 2019 at https://www.niskanencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/old_uploads/2019/03/OPT.pdf
The Facts about Optional Practical Training (OPT) for
Foreign Students for CATO Institute, Cato at Liberty Blog post by David J. Bier, May 20, 2020 at https://www.cato.org/blog/facts-about-optional-practical-training-opt-foreign-students
