2. Innovation - No other country has the track record of innovation like the US. If foreigners are the only ones innovating, then they will eventually take that knowledge back to their home country. This will devalue what little we do produce.
3. Education - Foreign professors tend to be hard to understand and cannot impart the complex nuances of engineering and science to students (most foreign professor's language skills do not match a native speaker). With the rise in foreign professors, I can understand the decline in domestic applicants. Who wants to learn chinese on top of learning calculus? The more native born professors we have, the more native born students we can attract.
4. Historical precedent - Most of the greatest men and women in American history had engineering degrees, or were involved in the Sciences, people like Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Lee, Edison, the list goes on... Science and Engineering are a quick way to fame and wealth in America. The wealthiest person in the world is Bill Gates after all.
If we give up on Engineering, then we will decline into the Third World faster than any other power in history. ITT tech isn't gonna be able to give you the theory needed to understand the electrical circuit, but you will definitely be able to wire the Chinese Engineer's house when he calls you for service. The $30/hour you're making will easily be affordable by his $60/hour career as a Software Engineer.
Cheers,
CSG CSG
engineers who work for defense contractors are quasi-government employees. there is nothing wrong with that, but its not a "market forces" job. and the demand is very limited, just a few companies do defense related work.
innovation will take place in the countries where investments are made, and engineers are employed. if that's not the US, then you can kiss innovation goodbye.