Doctoral Education and the Faculty of the Future

17. What the “War on Terror” Has Meant for U.S. Colleges and Universities

17 What the “War on Terror” Has Meant for U.S. Colleges and Universities Michael A. Olivas A number of the chapters in this volume have directly addressed the perceived decline in the attractiveness of graduate professional education in the United States, offering a multitude of observations and proposing a number of solutions. As is the case with so many complex problems, virtually all of the diagnoses and prescriptions are correct in their own ways, and completely wrongheaded in others. In the crowded Chinese city, a young girl only vaguely senses her possibilities as a chemist , medical researcher, or legal scholar; the young boy in the Mexican milpa (field) only understands the study of physics or the poetry of Pablo Neruda in the most ethereal sense. As social scientists like to study the “pathways” to degree completion, most of us remember our own paths as accidental, idiosyncratic, and unlikely. Take, for example, the tales of Ronald Ehrenberg’s winding road to his own field of study and how it morphed over time (Ehrenberg 1999, 2000), or this author’s false starts before finding niches in higher education law and immigration studies (Olivas 2000)—most people’s studies and arcs of professional exploration often defy description or prediction. Regardless of how scholars come to the United States, the real question is where they land and do their work, and what conditions drive the Paul Chus, Jill Kerr Conways, Albert Einsteins, Henry Kissingers, and Mario Molinas to devote their lives to research agendas in U.S. labs 250 Doctoral Education and the Faculty of the Future and higher education institutions. This chapter addresses these issues in three ways, in an attempt to triangulate how the United States regulates entry into college for international students, how antiterrorism laws have affected these practices, and how the changed ground rules since September 11, 2001, have affected the place of U.S. higher education in the world. Foreign Study in the United States Foreign students apply to U.S. institutions of higher education in the same manner that anyone else does—and then some. The “then some” is largely an overlay of international student requirements on top of the admissions process and additional paperwork—both of which involve the immigration process. Conceptually, the steps are quite simple and transparent, but they mask the complexities that underpin international student admissions (Berger and Borene 2005). The purpose of this chapter is not to parse these immigration requirements, which feed a large industry practice and support network. For example, NAFSA, the Association of International Educators (formerly the National Association for Foreign Student Advisers) represents these students’ interests in the United States, organizes the process, and has professionalized the international student adviser network (Bollag 2006c).1 A number of NAFSA studies have clearly documented the extent to which there are structural problems in student application processing, consular delays (including evidence in 2001 that over one-fourth of consular visa applications for students intending to study here were denied), and flaws in the immigration requirements, especially in the domiciliary requirements of those intending to study here (NAFSA 2003, 2006). Another network, the Institute of International Education, fosters exchange programs, evaluates transcripts, and provides technical assistance among world higher education systems (Institute of International Education 2006).2 Other allied organizations, governmental agencies, and nongovernmental organizations also coordinate these functions. As a result, millions of students and scholars travel outside their countries and interact with colleges on a formal basis (Institute of International Education 2006). The truth is that the system works well, and not that it bogs down and fails its participants (although failures are more evident since 2001). In the United States, international students travel for the most part on F-1 visas (traditional college attendance) or M-1 visas (short-term college attendance or language study), while exchange scholars and researchers travel on F-1 visas. Their families and dependents are allowed to follow in related visa categories. (There are a number of other immigration “War on Terror” and U.S. Colleges and Universities 251 categories that allow study, but those mentioned here are the major vehicles .) Students must be admitted for study and submit timely paperwork that shows requisite financial support, insurance coverage, security clearances, and other eligibility for study (McMurtie 1999). These required documents have grown more complex and time-consuming to process, and it is not unusual that delays in processing will affect timing for...