Visa Restrictions Bite Into Graduate Enrollments

Since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11th, the fraction of foreigners among incoming physics graduate students in the US has taken a dive, according to a recent report by the American Institute of Physics.

After climbing for decades to a peak of 55%, the fraction of new physics graduate students who were noncitizens shrank by 10% in the past two years. The AIP report estimates that around one-fifth of foreigners accepted to study physics were at least initially prevented from enrolling in 2002 because they were not allowed into the US. Hardest hit in terms of percentage were students from China—who make up the largest single block of foreign physics students—and the Middle East.

Top-ranked physics departments suffered the least, with 10% of accepted noncitizens denied entry to the US, compared with more than 20% at lower-ranked PhD-granting and 40% at master’s-granting departments. The lower-ranked departments also reported a decrease in the number of foreign applicants. In a way, says Michael Neuschatz, a coauthor of the report, “the highly uneven distribution amplifies the impact. It causes severe pain for some departments and almost no pain for others.”

The no-shows take a toll on physics departments, many of which reported cancelled graduate courses and a shortage of teaching and research assistants. Some departments worry that unfilled teaching-assistant slots will be permanently lost. In response to the visa difficulties, most physics departments have not changed their admissions policies, but 10% have begun accepting fewer foreign students, “to insulate themselves from the associated problems and uncertainty,” and 9% are accepting more, to keep up their enrollment tallies.

These and other data are presented in the report, Physics Students From Abroad in the Post-9/11 Era. Single copies may be obtained free of charge from AIP, Statistical Research Center, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740; e-mail stats@aip.org ; electronic copies can be downloaded from http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/undtrends.htm .