Victor Cerda

The House Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness & Select Education Committee on Education and the Workforce, in a hearing on ‘Tracking International Students in Higher Education: A Progress Report’ learned that much fewer institutions could now issue forms that allow foreign students to begin the process of coming into this country.

Following Sept. 11, 2001 and the implementing of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), the electronic student tracking system, some of the dangers of letting in the 9/11 hijackers may have been alleviated, federal officials contended. But educators said the U.S. was losing ground to other countries when it came to attracting bright students here.

“More robust school screening requirements have essentially ‘cleaned’ the list of schools that could issue the necessary I-20 that initiates the process for an individual to enter the United States as a student. Gone are the days of the questionable dog grooming school that, despite no investigation, had the authority to sponsor individuals to enter the country,” said Victor Cerda, Counsel to the Assistant Secretary at Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs division. Of the 70,000 previously certified schools, approximately 8,000 schools now remain in SEVIS due to the enhanced and centralized SEVP certification process, which requires a site visit, and consistent reporting in SEVIS of changes in the student’s status and performance at the institution. As a result SEVIS data is more reliable and, therefore, more useful as an enforcement tool, Cerda said.

But Lawrence Bell, Director, International Education Office, University of Colorado at Boulder Vice President for Public Policy for the Association of International Educators, criticized some of the measures taken after 9-11. “There is no question that America’s reputation as an attractive place for international students to study took a big hit after 9/11,” due partly to visa issues, partly to SEVIS issues, and partly to broader factors that affected U.S.’ overall image in the world, Bell contended. The most affected fields were the scientific fields, because of increased concern post-9/11 about foreign access to advanced science and technology. The most affected countries and regions were China, (because most Chinese students want to study science), and the Middle East, because of increased scrutiny of Arabs and Muslims. But the effects were not limited to these fields and these countries; they were across the board, Bell said, adding that Japan was marketing itself to Chinese students, and Singapore was reaching out to Indian and Indonesian students. Stephen Edson, managing director, Office of Visa Services, said international students attending U.S. colleges and universities account for $13 billion in revenues each year and attracting them was an invaluable resource. Worldwide, more than 200 alumni of U.S. exchange programs have become heads of state or government, including Anwar Sadat, Hamid Karzai, Tony Blair, Kim Dae-Jung of South Korea, Oscar Arias Sanchez of Costa Rica, and Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia.