Courtesy of RDECOM

Today, students graduating in the United States find themselves obtaining careers that are more heavily supplied than demanded.  Therefore, a vast majority cannot and do not find jobs. For example, today, almost 150,000 students are attending U.S. law schools. Almost all of them are Americans, and barely more than half will find jobs in their field here. On the other hand, students of science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) find themselves very successful finding employment in the U.S. due to their scarcity and the country’s demand.

The disparity between the number of graduates of STEM and the number of jobs available is alarming, yet even more concerning is the fact that many of these graduating students are foreign-born. For example, this year, 40,000 computer science graduates will find 120,000 new and unfilled jobs waiting for them. Many of those students are foreign born and barred by our current immigration policy from using their talents to meet this demand to help the U.S. economy grow. In addition by 2009, according to the National Science Foundation, a full half of those graduating with a doctorate in computer science were foreign-born students here on a temporary visa. Although we clearly have an economic need for these graduates, and they have been educated here in the United States, we are currently sending these inventors and job creators home to compete with us in the global market.

Also, if companies cannot find qualified individuals to work for their company, moving overseas seems like their best alternative. As a result, the U.S. loses all of the successful companies with a STEM foundation and gain more competition in the global economy. The United States is becoming a weaker country, due to its present immigration legislation, educating well foreign-born individuals and forcing them to benefit their home countries rather than the U.S. itself.

Would the U.S. economy flourish if the current immigration policy changed? Would Congress passing a bill to allow highly-skilled immigrants studying science, technology, engineering, or math at an American university to stay here and earn green cards after graduation be the solution to America’s declining economy?

To learn more about this issue read the article here.