Saturday, February 7, 2009

US economy, H1B and the Stimulus package

H1B Cap and Education in the USA
Senators Chuck Grassley and the Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont are bringing in an amendment to the stimulus package which would stop any companies getting the stimulus support , if they are employing H1B’s.

It’s a good move by the Senators to secure the jobs of Americans. However a lot of international students come to USA for higher education. If the H1B's are banned, a lot of students who come to the US with the views of working after their education will have to go back and will not be able to fulfill their dreams.

So

- Are the senators who are bringing this amendment willing to make sure that the students know about the job situation before they pump in thousands of dollars in the US for their education.

- Are the Senators willing to let the students know that they should not dream of working in the US?

- Are the senators willing to bring in another amendment which forces all educational institutes in the US to clearly highlight this predicament to all the students before the students commit themselves to paying their fees and studying here?

- Are the senators willing to ensure that the education institutes clearly mention on their website that International students cannot work here after their education? I bet its not going to be easy nor will the senators be able to bring in this kind of an amendment.

And I can explain this through some number for people to understand easily

582,984
Number of International students enrolled in the US in year 2008

$ 25,000
Average tuition and living expenses that every student spends in the US over a year (On the lower side. Some of the undergraduate schools and graduate school expenses run into more than $ 60,000 per year

$ 14,574,600,000
Amount of money being pumped into the US economy by International students at a conservative rate (US Dollar 14.5 billion)

$ 7,287,300,000
Amount or revenue lost if 50% of the international students decide not to pursue an education in the US because they cannot work here after the education ($ 7.28 Billion)

$ 4,858,200,000
Even assuming that only 1/3 rd of the students decide not to pursue the education the revenue loss to the US economy from international students would be 4.85 Billion Dollars


Thus at conservative estimates the US economy is likely to lose $ 4.85 billion revenue every year just because they decide to cut down the H1B visas quota of 85,000 visas.

I am sure every international student will have this on her or his mind. Do the US senators have this on their mind too???

This kinds of an amendment to the stimulus package or an attempt to reduce H1B caps a big impact on individuals aspiring to work in the USA. However it also impacts the US economy specially the education sector. This might in turn impact the economy of USA and any adverse impacts are not good for the people. Have the senetor's thought of this???

Friday, February 6, 2009

H1B Cap and Education in the USA

Senators are bringing in an amendment to the stimulus package which would stop any companies get the stimulus support from employing H1B’s.

It’s a good move by the Senators to secure the jobs of Americans. However a lot of international students come to USA for higher education. If the H1B's are banned a lot of students who come to the US with the views of working after their education will have to go back and loose big time on their dreams.

So are the senators who are bringing this amendment willing to make sure that the students know about the job situation before they pump in thousands of dollars in the US for their education. Are the senators willing to bring in another amendment which forces all educational institutes in the US to clearly highlight this predicament to all the students before the students commit themselves to paying their fees and studying here? Are the senators willing to ensure that the education institutes clearly mention on their website that International students cannot work here after their education? I bet its not going to be easy nor will the senators be able to bring in this kind of an amendment.

And I can explain this through some number for people to understand easily

582,984

Number of International students enrolled in the US in year 2008

$ 25,000

Average tuition and living expenses that every student spends in the US over a year (On the lower side. Some of the undergraduate schools and graduate school expenses run into more than $ 60,000 per year

$ 14,574,600,000

Amount of money being pumped into the US economy by International students at a conservative rate (US Dollar 14.5 billion)

$ 7,287,300,000

Amount or revenue lost if 50% of the international students decide not to pursue an education in the US because they cannot work here after the education ($ 7.28 Billion)

$ 4,858,200,000

Even assuming that only 1/3 rd of the students decide not to pursue the education the revenue loss to the US economy from international students would be 4.85 Billion Dollars

Thus at conservative estimates the US economy is likely to lose $ 4.85 billion revenue every year just because they decide to cut down the H1B visas quota of 85,000 visas.

I am sure every international student will have this on her or his mind. Do the US senators have this on their mind too???