because Americans just don’t want work hard enough to make through, much less excel, the STEM career programs
Ridiculous. This says more about where you’re coming from than it does the point you’re trying to make.
Oh, really?
Where I am coming from is about 20 years in STEM related higher education with a career focus on recruiting American High School grads for STEM careers and making sure they are better prepared for academic success at the University level and helping them with remedial course work so they can move forward with a STEM course of study successfully.
The rest of my career has been devoted to running cutting edge tech companies.
Where are you coming from?
Fact is many American High Schools have excellent advanced placement college prep course offerings that very few students take advantage of because they require hard work that high school students don’t want to put the effort into.
This attitude continues into their college studies. Most come in poorly prepared for success in STEM area studies and must take remedial courses to come up to speed.
Many find the work difficult and are unwilling to in the necessary efforts and move on to easier courses of study.
Foreign students on the other hand, almost uniformly have excellent preparation and come from societies were education is a privilege, not a right and is the only sure way to advance to a better life. They work hard like their lives depend upon it - because their lives actually do depend upon their striving for success.
Your comment "because Americans just don’t want work hard enough to make through, much less excel, the STEM career programs" is utterly ridiculous on its face.
Prove it.