WHITE HOUSE MOVES TO LIMIT AREAS OF STUDY FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS
Since September 11th, a number of restrictions on international students have been imposed and proposed. One of the most disturbing of these, for advocates of foreign students, is the possibility that they will be restricted from certain areas of study.
Since last October, the Bush administration has been quietly urging colleges and universities to limit the areas in which international students may study. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, along with a number of other federal agencies, is working to identify areas of study that are deemed sensitive to national security. According to the White House, the goal is to "prohibit the education and training of foreign nationals who would use their training to harm the United States and its allies."
Advocates and educators say that they are not being consulted in the debate, which they say has been dominated by law enforcement personnel with little understanding of academics. They also argue that attempting to limit areas of study for certain students would not be an effective way of addressing the issue. Academic information is available even to those who are not in the classroom, they point out, and say that a more effective solution would be to simply bar suspicious prospective students from entering the US. They also point out the difficulty in deciding what to do should a student change his or her area of study after being admitted to the US. In addition to concerns about how such limitations would work, there are also concerns about what they would mean for the US educational system as a whole. Academic freedom and readily available knowledge are cornerstones of US universities, and one of the things that makes them so attractive to foreign students. Foreign students are major economic contributors to the US, bringing more than $12 billion a year to the US economy.
According to a White House spokesperson, a report on the issue is expected within the next few weeks.
http://www.visalaw.com/02may1/4may102.html
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