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While exceedingly simplistic, I can't imagine China welcoming thousands of Americans to their top universities and later, to their job market. AND be willing to help pay for it. Can you?
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<p>Neither does America. As someone mentioned, federal money doesn't pay for international financial aid. Most universities which provide financial aid for internationals do so without government aid.</p>
<p>And believe it or not, what you say is exactly what some countries like Singapore are doing. In Southeast Asia, the best and brightest are often sucked up by Singapore as early as high school, with the government offering generous scholarships, conditional on the scholars being bonded to work for the Singaporean government for a certain period of time. As I said, there's a compelling argument to be made that this sort of arrangement can be in a country's national interest.</p>
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You see, there is always the other side of the coin. It would be my opinion, (and it's really only an opinion) that this world needs a global intelligence in order to create global solutions. If everyone or a very large percentage just stays here, that doesn't help that to happen.
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<p>That's a somewhat simplistic way to see the situation. For one, it assumes everyone would stay if given the choice - a lot of internationals I know don't feel at home in America and either plan to return home after graduation or after gaining some work experience here; others may initially settle here but wind up going home (a lot of the budding entrepreneurs and academics in India and China hold American degrees and used to work in the US). And really, the present system is geared completely against this. The quota on professional immigrant work permits is so low that it is filled the day applications open, and it's a complete crapshoot as to who gets in - I know Harvard grads who joined top firms in the US but wound up having to move elsewhere because their work permit applications were rejected. The whole student visa system assumes you will not stay in America, and it can be harmful to your immigration status if you indicate that you have long-term plans to stay.</p>
<p>And really, it's never going to be feasible (nor would it be found desirable) for the US education system to suck up the top brains from around the world. Even if the demand is there, the supply really isn't - I can't see there being enough money to accomplish this, or enough educational facilities. And even if it were possible, eventually many of the immigrants would go home. (The UK, which had to deal with a glut of "Polish plumbers" a few years ago, is now finding that many of them have returned home.)</p>
<p>And on to the issue of offensiveness, I personally find it offensive that intelligent people can regard it almost (if not exactly) akin to theft for another intelligent person to immigrate to their country and make an honest living. If I pay taxes and abide by the law, what I do shouldn't be any business of yours. If you're not able to do the job I'm doing, then you should either improve your skill set or find another job, because there isn't a God-given right to hold a position you're not really qualified to have.</p>
<p>And honestly, the US elite is not even threatened by the vast majority of those seeking to immigrate for professional reasons. Many of these work permits are presently going to academics in fields Americans are generally not pursuing (e.g. theoretical physics). American industrialists in Silicon Valley is) the number one lobbyist for higher immigration quotas because it really can't find Americans who can do the jobs they need to fill. (Incidentally, this could be another reason why Microsoft and other tech firms have been outsourcing programming work to India and China.)</p>
<p>But in short, I don't think looser controls on immigration or encouraging internationals to study in America would have the drastic effects some people seem to fear they would. Yes, ultimately there would be more immigrants to America, but that is a good thing. If you're a country built on immigration, you'll want smart immigrants. And since you still seem to need immigrants, why on earth would you turn smart people away? The factors driving foreigners to study and/or settle here would also ultimately balance out with those driving them to study at and/or return home, but ultimately, everyone would benefit from a more diverse American university system. Employers and academia would have a bigger pool to draw on, the government would have more sources of tax revenue (and maybe even more brainy employees if they actively recruited and/or bonded international students to working for them), and eventually many of these foreigners would return home and bring the benefits of their liberal arts education with them. (As for those who decide to stay, I don't think it'd be prudent to count them as a net loss, since it's a sign they've decided they love America enough to make it their home.)</p>
<p>Okay, that long digression aside, cameliasinensis is an '11 so she got in before need-blind admissions and loan-free aid packages. '12s and later classes won't have loans and international applicants won't have to worry about being disadvantaged just because they applied for aid.</p>