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Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

edition.cnn.com

11–20 of 231 posts

Re: Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

#12
post #5

I know this will be very unpleasant and will entail a lot of hardship for a lot of people but I can't help but wonder if in the long term this will help to start reversing the "brain drain" problem that many developing nations are struggling with. They'll still have access to their classes and be able to acquire the requisite skills, but now they'll be building something in their home country not stuck in a middle ti…

The effect would be these students would not opt for these courses. For majority of these students the main attraction is employment in USA, for a small subset experiencing American culture. In absence of both of these there is no reason for students to take online courses from American Universities.

Re: Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

#13
As an international student myself, it has been a very confusing last few months, and now this. I am fortunate enough to be back in my home country but I know of many others who are stuck in the US due to travel restrictions or financial reasons. Forcing them to leave for a situation they cannot control during a pandemic is cruel.

I urge everyone to sign this petition[0] to help international students who are here to pursue higher education in the US, by asking ICE to rescind their decision.

[0] https://www.change.org/p/ice-let-international-students-stay

Re: Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

#14
post #4

Key quote: >” Visa requirements for students have always been strict and coming to the US to take online-only courses has been prohibited.” So it’s a reinforcement of policy rather than change although some institutions would like to see accommodation for this kind of circumstance —which is understandable if students came here with the intent to attend in person, but it’s worth noting the the visa requirements have n…

It's a total dick move by them to enforce it right now. If the student is normally enrolled full time in person and they just have this/next semester online, they shouldn't be required to pack their bags and leave for just one or two semesters. That's very different from the intent of not letting online students physically enter the us for no reason. Already many students were stuck here in may since international travel was restricted by many countries. Doing stupid pointless shit like this has no positive effect.

Re: Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

#15
post #5

I know this will be very unpleasant and will entail a lot of hardship for a lot of people but I can't help but wonder if in the long term this will help to start reversing the "brain drain" problem that many developing nations are struggling with. They'll still have access to their classes and be able to acquire the requisite skills, but now they'll be building something in their home country not stuck in a middle ti…

I doubt it, since it's not US universities that are causing the brain drain so much as well-paying US tech companies.

Re: Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

#16
post #5

I know this will be very unpleasant and will entail a lot of hardship for a lot of people but I can't help but wonder if in the long term this will help to start reversing the "brain drain" problem that many developing nations are struggling with. They'll still have access to their classes and be able to acquire the requisite skills, but now they'll be building something in their home country not stuck in a middle ti…

I find this a common sentiment here. As someone who left his country to study abroad, I find it very odd.

An individual looks at his or her options, decides that pursuing education in a foreign country will result in a better future for them and their family.

And somehow restricting their opportunity and their freedom to do so is a good thing? Certainly not for the individual in question.

Personally, I think the way to prevent brain drain is not to impose restrictions on individual liberty but to compete better on the education/career market.

Re: Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

#17
post #5

I know this will be very unpleasant and will entail a lot of hardship for a lot of people but I can't help but wonder if in the long term this will help to start reversing the "brain drain" problem that many developing nations are struggling with. They'll still have access to their classes and be able to acquire the requisite skills, but now they'll be building something in their home country not stuck in a middle ti…

I know several developers from developing nations that have strong ties to their countries of origin, and engage heavily in various "good works" there. They have massively more resources to do so due to their salaries in the US than they would if they were stuck in their countries of origin.

Re: Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

#18
As someone who studied in the US on an F1 visa, I can tell you that this rule has always been in place. The F1 visa was always extremely restrictive whether it was regarding minimum number of in person credits or regarding allowing students to work part time.

It seems especially cruel that they'd choose to enforce the rule at a time like this.

Re: Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

#19
post #16
post #5

I know this will be very unpleasant and will entail a lot of hardship for a lot of people but I can't help but wonder if in the long term this will help to start reversing the "brain drain" problem that many developing nations are struggling with. They'll still have access to their classes and be able to acquire the requisite skills, but now they'll be building something in their home country not stuck in a middle ti…

I find this a common sentiment here. As someone who left his country to study abroad, I find it very odd. An individual looks at his or her options, decides that pursuing education in a foreign country will result in a better future for them and their family. And somehow restricting their opportunity and their freedom to do so is a good thing? Certainly not for the individual in question. Personally, I think the way…

> I think the way to prevent brain drain is not to impose restrictions on individual liberty but to compete better on the education/career market.

Countries that are at the source of brain drains would typically like to do that but can't, just like they have problems solving other problems. $arbitrary country does not have the major tech companies to support tech-company level salaries and there is a chicken-and-egg problem there.

So an artificial restriction like that would indeed tilt things in their favor, which may help them solve this very problem in the long term.

If this anti-immigration trend is held over a sufficiently long time I think rich countries will start realizing what a magnificent deal they had.

Re: Int. students may need to leave US if classes are 100% Remote

#20
Well it makes sense... If you done actually have to be in the country to take the courses, then your stay is optional. For students that cannot go back due to travel restrictions or that have other obligations in the country, it would make sense to let them stay.

Of course if they come from countries that do not possess the facilities necessary to access online content, that would put some students in quite a pickle. Maybe those could also be treated in a special manner, but I doubt that many would be affected.

Maybe the article wasn't explicit enough, but I'm not quite seeing the problem with this decision. Maybe the manner of communication?

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