Drop in foreign applicants worries U.S. engineering schools • Hacker News Board

Re: Drop in foreign applicants worries U.S. engineering schools

#11

Post by __derek__ » Wed, Feb 15, 2017, 4:22 PM UTC

cylinder wrote: post #9

More likely is the rising USD. Australia and Canada have cheaper fees, and better pathways to permanent residency for some students. Also of note is their universities are mostly in urban environments whereas in USA you're usually in a small college town in the middle of nowhere. For a Chinese student, living in a high-rise in Melbourne CBD is infinitely more preferable and familiar than a dorm in Columbus Ohio.

That's all been true for several years, no? It's odd that schools would have seen a surge in international applicants over the last decade only to have the trend weaken now.

Re: Drop in foreign applicants worries U.S. engineering schools

#12

Post by finid » Wed, Feb 15, 2017, 5:03 PM UTC

SlipperySlope wrote: post #3

finid wrote: post #2

Well, what did they expect? A drop in foreign grad students will negatively impact the capacity of professors to conduct research. That can't make America great, ever!

Given that much research is from American public financing, why pay foreign grad students to perform research when salaries could be raised enough to attract US resident students.

Being a Research Assistant (RA) or a Teaching Assistant (TA) is not a job per se but part of ones training while in grad school. Whatever you're paid while performing such duties is just a stipend, and not a salary in the traditional sense.

So, no, universities are not going to hire Americans to RA and TA positions if they have no incentive to be in grad school.

Foreign students come here because they want to come here to learn. Being paid for RA and TA responsibilities is just a bonus. Professors reap the benefit of having some of the best minds from around the globe around them.

Re: Drop in foreign applicants worries U.S. engineering schools

#13

Post by credit_guy » Thu, Feb 16, 2017, 2:39 AM UTC

SlipperySlope wrote: post #3

finid wrote: post #2

Well, what did they expect? A drop in foreign grad students will negatively impact the capacity of professors to conduct research. That can't make America great, ever!

Given that much research is from American public financing, why pay foreign grad students to perform research when salaries could be raised enough to attract US resident students.

Top universities (Stanford, MIT, Ivy League) don't have a money problem, and they don't have a supply-demand problem. Prospective students would gladly join and work for free, be they foreigners or US residents. They do pay though, although it's not clear what drives their level of pay. Maybe one factor is that if they paid more, it could end up being counterproductive, as the post about f-u money that has been on HN recently can attest.