U.S. should encourage foreign Ph.D students to stay to revitalize economic growth

A new study has revealed that the U.S. policy should encourage enrollment of foreign students to American universities as it could help revitalize innovation and economic growth in the country.

A trio of economists led by Professor Keith Maskus at the University of Colorado Boulder concluded that both U.S. and foreign students are essential, causal inputs into scientific discovery.

Presently, U.S. law forces foreign students to leave the country after earning their Ph.D.s, unless they find employers willing to sponsor their visas, which researchers point, might not lead to permanent U.S. residency.

The trio has also found evidence that increased student diversity boosts innovative research.

They found that the productivity of the science and engineering laboratory in generating publications at an average American university is a bit higher, if it has students from 10 different countries, rather than having 10 students from one country.

The derivation was made with the perspective that people trained in different traditions tend to have different specialties in terms of how they come to a teamwork environment.

The publication comes as Congress weighs whether and how to change the U.S. immigration system.