Jill on the Hill: decision time – int’l student choices will shape the nation’s future

This article was written by Jill Welch, a Senior Policy Advisor for the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

It’s no secret that international students, and immigrants in general, have propelled the US economy forward. One frequently cited report by the National Foundation for American Policy notes that immigrants have launched more than half of America’s startup companies, valued at $1 billion or more, and that almost 80% of these “unicorn” companies have an immigrant founder or executive leader.

Notably, one in four of those founders first came to America as an international student.

And yet this country, unlike Canada, the UK, and Australia, still imposes stringent and outdated rules on students that make it more difficult to secure visas to study here, and preclude them from transitioning into a more permanent immigration status after graduation.

Read the full article from The PIE News here.