Is that U of IL or U of IN? I know U of IL’s enrollment is actually down a bit, but in a quick search I can’t find anything on enrollment numbers in their STEM programs.
Other IL State Universities are really hurting in terms of enrollment (see my post above for a link to specifics.)
If enrollment is down, then of course Universities are going to go wherever they can to recruit.
I wonder how many Universities are actually at their physical limits (available classrooms, labs, etc.) for STEM enrollment, and for whatever reason can’t expand? I’ll bet it’s under 1 in 4.
The real problem is that the prevailing wage requirements for foreign workers are not meaningfully enforced & “in the field” those wages are too low. Employers should NOT be allowed (given?) lower labor cost for foreign workers than US workers.
U of Il. is taking only THE best of the best from Il. and the rest of the spots go to foreign students. It is VERY difficult to get into now.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
I was referring to Univ. of Illinois. I don’t believe the total enrollment numbers at UofI are down—tho they certainly are for in-state UofI students (Illinois residents).
Other regional schools such as Northern Illinois and Eastern Illinois may have some total enrollment decreases based on your links, and that would not surprise me given those schools’ policies and Illinois finances.
However, unless things have changed drastically, UofI turns away many students—and students are discouraged from applying unless they meet certain criteria...so if its enrollment ever were to drop, UofI could conceivably just loosen up the admission requirements a point or two rather than go abroad to recruit...Historically, many IL students who apply and are turned away. I think they want the Chinese and other foreign nationals for the full-ride tuition— $$$$$ follow the money.
This policy of taking foreign nationals may be OK at a private school, but why are Illinois residents paying to support these schools if their own students can’t attend?
Here is an excerpt from the article you linked to and referred me to: The contraction is most acute at schools other than the University of Illinois.
As I said, I don’t think UofI has enrollment contraction issues.
Here is an article (there are several) regarding Chinese (and other foreign student recruitment at UofI.
Title: University of China at Illinois
Excerpt from article:
UIUC enrolls nearly 5,000 students from China, more than any other U.S. university. Nationally, the number of Chinese students in the U.S. has risen fivefold since 2000 – driven by a big increase in the number of Chinese students going overseas for their undergraduate degrees – but even against that backdrop of growth the expansion of the Chinese student population at Illinois’s public flagship university has been remarkable: a university that enrolled just 37 undergraduates from the People’s Republic in 2000 enrolls 2,898 today. Nearly a tenth of this fall’s freshman class – 684 students – hail from China. There are more freshmen from China than there are, combined, from 48 of the 50 states, all save for Illinois and California.
Even at the graduate level, where there was a larger base to begin with, UIUC’s Chinese student enrollment has more than tripled, from 649 in 2000 to 1,973 this fall.
The 4,898 Chinese students make up the largest group of international students on Illinois’s campus, followed distantly by students from South Korea (1,268 this fall) and India (1,167).
So nickname of UofI is University of China at Illinois. Most students are studying business management or engineering/other math sciences
I am from Illinois, so I keep an eye on Illinois issues. My beef is that UofI is so intent on courting Chinese foreign nationals that they are actually going to China to recruit—on my tax dollar. I was out to dinner with my 50- year-old brother last week. We were discussing UofI. He went to UofI for Chemical Engineering and had a high school GPA of 3.0 (if that). He stated that today, there is no way he would have even been considered let alone admitted to UofI. As IL residents, our taxes are going to support that school, yet many of our students are not admitted.
Then these students get hired by tech firms who can save $12,000 by hiring them over US citizens...Now those firms are whining and wanting to hire more foreign national students and workers...Life ain’t fair—especially in America STEM careers in 2015 :(
Time for a change!