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
[1] Illinois
Innovation Index - 2020 University Entrepreneurship Index: Startup Creation
Reaches Record Heights by the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition
at https://www.istcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/UE_Index_20_FINAL_5.18.pdf
[2] Where
do foreign student graduates work in the United States? By Neil G. Ruiz,
Abby Budiman, Chris Baronavski & Ariana Rodriguez-Gitler for Pew Research
Center, May 10, 2018 at https://www.pewresearch.org/global/interactives/where-do-foreign-student-graduates-work-in-the-united-states/?msa=chicago
[3] STEM
Talent: 2018 Talent Index: Computer and Data Science Lead the Way by the
Illinois Science & Technology Coalition at https://www.istcoalition.org/data/index/2018-talent-index/
[4] International
Students, STEM OPT and the U.S. STEM Workforce a Foundation for American
Policy Brief by Madeline Zavodny, March 2019 at https://nfap.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/International-Students-STEM-OPT-And-The-US-STEM-Workforce.NFAP-Policy-Brief.March-2019.pdf
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