International students are vital to the STEM talent pipeline and the U.S. economy. America’s leading research universities are magnets for global talent in STEM fields, which drive economic growth through research and development (R&D). This results in new companies and industries and creates millions of high-wage jobs.
Some key facts:
- International students added $43 billion to the American economy - just last year.
- Immigrants founded more than half of unicorn startups. This means privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more, like SpaceX, CrowdStrike, Zoom, and Instacart.
- Defense-related industries rely heavily on STEM workers. Half of these workers are foreign-born.
Recently, the administration has proposed policies which put American science at risk. AAU urges Congress to help the United States win the race for global scientific talent. For that reason, AAU opposes policies that:
- End duration of status for student visa holders.
- Delay, deny, or revoke student visas without due process.
- Impose broad travel bans and processing pauses that limit students, researchers, educators, and skilled professionals.
- Restrict the Optional Practical Training program for student visa holders.
- Make harmful changes to the H-1B visa program.
Such policies would harm U.S. leadership in science and cause our nation to lose the global race for scientific talent. Instead of attracting scientists, it could, and is, causing brain drain: when scientists eave America. We stand ready to work with Congress to keep America dominant in science and technology.
The Association of American Universities (AAU) urges Congress to reject policies that make it harder for the United States to attract and retain the best and brightest students and scholars from around the world and other high-skilled foreign talent.
The Trump administration’s deep cuts to federal funding of scientific research, crackdown on universities, and proposals aimed at deterring international talent have unleashed a loss of scientific talent – a brain drain - away from the United States to other countries.
This page will be updated regularly to provide new information as it becomes available regarding the AAU-Chamber of Commerce legal action contesting the implementation of a $100,000 fee for H1-B visa petitions.
DHS and ICE have proposed a rule that would make it harder for international students to complete their degree programs in the United States, obtain practical work experience upon graduation, or move on to another degree level.
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AAU joined ACE and eight other associations in a letter to the Trump Administration regarding OPT and the importance of international students.
AAU sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, and Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia regarding White House executive order about immigration and share immigration and visa issues colleges and universities are concerned about for the upcoming fall semester
AAU sent a letter to Department of State Secretary Mike Pompeo and Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf to request that the departments provide additional guidance to address longer term visa status flexibilities, particularly the need to extend flexibilities to include new international students who enroll for the fall term.
AAU joined ACE and four other higher education associations to send a letter to the State Department urging guidance for current and new international students seeking to study in the U.S. beginning in the fall.
AAU wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf encouraging clarification on F-1 status during the COVID-19 outbreak, extensions of immigration status, and Optional Practical Training (OPT) consideration.
