Colleges lobby U.S. to ease student visas

BOSTON — A steep decline in graduate school applications from foreign students has university administrators pushing the federal government to reform the visa process. Their argument: The trend could cost U.S. schools much-needed revenue and research help, and make America seem isolated in the eyes of the world.

International graduate student applications for this fall are down 32 percent compared with a year ago, according to a recent survey, and schools are extending application deadlines so they don’t lose students still negotiating the U.S. bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, in public comments and private lobbying, universities are urging federal officials to speed up visa applications, emphasizing that America’s role as a beacon to the world’s students could be in jeopardy.

Universities acknowledge that the importance of foreign students is not obvious to the public, which has security concerns after one of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers entered the country on a student visa. Some may wonder why foreign students take up 600,000 slots in American universities in the first place.

But administrators insist those slots are as important now as ever.

"This is one of America’s most effective forms of diplomacy," said Douglas Kincaid, vice provost for international studies at Florida International University in Miami, where foreign enrollment is down 10 percent. "We’re educating people who will be in influential positions in science and industry and government around the world."

More than 90 percent of graduate schools reported their foreign applications for this fall declined, according to a survey of 113 universities last month by the Council of Graduate Schools.

Foreign students often pay higher tuition, and soak up little financial aid because they must demonstrate financial self-reliance to get a visa. More than 75 percent of their funding comes from outside the country, according to the Institute of International Education.

Copyright ©2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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