Declined visa applications hinder foreign physics students

College Park, MD (June 30, 2003) - In the wake of 9/11, students from other countries who have been accepted into graduate physics programs in the U.S. are having a hard time gaining entry into the US, a study released today shows.

About 20% of students admitted into physics graduate programs will be delayed by visa application problems for at least a full term, and some will not make it to the lab table at all, said the report from the American Institute of Physics' Statistical Research Center.

Two-thirds of the Ph.D-granting departments and almost half of the master's degree departments reported that they had students who were scheduled to start last autumn but had been unable to attend. More than tuition fees, U.S. physics departments will lose a significant percentage of their workforce.

"The impact is strongest on the small departments - which are least able to weather these problems," said Michael Neuschatz, Senior Research Associate in the Statistical Research Center at the American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD. While all departments rely on graduate students to teach undergrads and assist on research projects, smaller departments have fewer resources and less flexibility to compensate when faced with sudden no-shows.

The smaller grad departments report a greater proportion of foreign students with visa problems, and also a greater fall-off in recent applications to their programs, the study's authors say.

"This has severely impacted our graduate program as we will have fewer students available to perform research in our nationally funded research programs. Also, this lack of graduate students has had a negative impact in our university as the university is considering a reduction in the budget of the departments with decreasing graduate-student enrollments," one university reported in the study.

Students from China were most often denied entrance, followed by students from the Middle East. This is due, the authors say, to the ever-tightening rules on all immigrants, not a system targeted to specific countries.

Similar visa entry troubles will impact the engineering community as well: civil, electrical and mechanical engineering departments rely on international students for more than half of their staff. "For countries with developing economies, engineering is of course very important," said Roman Czjuko, director of AIP's Statistical Research Center, College Park, MD.

While many departments are adopting a wait-and-see attitude, those making changes in admissions policies have taken diametrically opposed approaches. "Some departments say they plan to let in more foreign students, and some plan to let in fewer," said Neuschatz.

The study, which took place in early 2003, surveyed 187 graduate physics departments, with almost 10,000 graduate students represented. Astronomy departments were not included in the study.

The report's full text is available here.

For more information:

Michael Neuschatz
Senior Research Associate, Statistical Research Center
301-209-3077

Roman Czujko
Director, Statistical Research Center
301-209-3080

Patrick Mulvey
Research Associate, Statistical Research Center
301-209-3076

Martha J. Heil
Media Coordinator, American Institute of Physics
301-209-3088