Foreign Student Enrolment Declines

            While this might not be looked on as good news in some sectors, a drop in foreign student enrolment at the same time there is an increase in overall college enrolment looks good to me. Increases in applications for graduate courses in science and engineering is particularly good news. For one thing it means that more Americans are opting into getting an education in those areas. For another it means that people who come to the United States on student visas for reasons other than getting an education have likely been affected by the efforts being put into homeland security.

            The last time statistics came down about a peak year, 1993, the increase in enrolments went to foreign students. Educating foreign students makes money for colleges but it exports American know how to countries that the U.S. then has to turn around and compete with. In the long run that is not very beneficial to the nation as a whole.

            There has been a drop in first time foreign graduate student enrolment in every field except biological and social sciences, and I heartily recommend that students coming for training in biological fields be scrutinized very carefully, especially if they are from Islamic countries or practitioners of that foul religion. Biological warfare is a ready tool for the terrorist to employ if they have capable scientists in their ranks.

            Some are already worrying that stricter visa regulation will send students to places like the UK, Germany and Australia. But if they are willing to sacrifice their security for the sake of training people who will compete technologically against them that suits me. We have already seen that Germany is willing to still cozy with terrorists even after years of problems with groups like Bader Meinhoff, and others.

            One problem that drove some Americans back to college for graduate work may be economical. But an advantage of older people coming back for graduate training is a likelihood they will be more adept at taking the education they returned for and using it positively. Many of them will have something those just completing undergraduate studies lack. Experience.