The
Multiplier
Effect
BY STUART ANDERSON
14 I N T E R N A T I O N A L E D U C A T O R
istckphoto
The Mult
S U M M E R 2 0 0 4 15
tiplier Effect
BY STUART ANDERSON
hile the United States benefits from the
entry of skilled foreign-born professionals
and international students, research
shows that the country gains even more from their children. An
astounding 60 percent of the top science students in the United
States and 65 percent of the top math students are the children
of immigrants. In addition, foreign-born high school students
make up 50 percent of the 2004 U.S.Math Olympiad's top scorers,
38 percent of the U.S. Physics Team, and 25 percent of the
Intel Science Talent Search finalists-the United States' most
prestigious awards for young scientists and mathematicians.
The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), a nonpartisan
public policy research group, produced these findings
after conducting more than 50 interviews and examining the
immigration backgrounds of top U.S. high school students.
New research shows that
foreign-born professionals
and students are contributing
more to the United States
than previously thought-
their children are rising
intellectual superstars-and
without them the nation's
technological and scientific
standing is at risk. W
16 I N T E R N A T I O N A L E D U C A T O R
Seven of the top 10 award winners at the
2004 Intel Science Talent Search were immigrants
or their children. (In 2003, three
of the top four awardees were foreignborn.
1) In fact, in the 2004 Intel Science
Talent Search, more children (18) have
parents who entered the country on H-1B
(professional) visas than parents born in
the United States (16). To place this finding
in perspective, note that new H-1B visa
holders each year represent less than 0.04
percent of the U.S. population,2 illustrating
the substantial gain in human capital that
the United States receives from the entry of
these individuals and their offspring. At a
time when U.S. leadership in science and
technology is threatened, these findings
provide evidence that maintaining an open
policy toward skilled professionals, international
students, and legal immigration is
vital to U.S. technological and scientific
standing in the world.
Concern That the Nation Is Slipping
"The United States has started to lose its
worldwide dominance in critical areas of
science and innovation," recently reported
The New York Times. "Foreign advances in
basic science often rival or even exceed
America's, apparently with little public
awareness of the trend or its implications
for jobs, industry, national security, or the
vigor of the nation's intellectual and cultural
life."3 Analysts cite a declining percentage
of prizes awarded to U.S. citizens,
publications in professional journals,
patents, and other indicators of scientific
prowess as reason for concern.
In January 2004, the U.S. government's
National Science Board warned that, "The
United States has always depended on the
inventiveness of its people in order to compete
in the world marketplace. Now, preparation
of the science and engineering workforce
is a vital arena for national competitiveness."
While cognizant of national
security issues, the National Science Board
expressed concern that the percentage of
refused visa applications in important
human capital categories had increased significantly
in the past few years. Denials of
high-skilled employment visa applications
nearly doubled between 2001 and 2003, rising
from 9.6 percent to 17.8 percent. Similar
increases in visa denials have been seen
among J-1 exchange visitors, and to a lesser
extent, F-1 student visas.4 One dynamic of
the changed environment is that fewer international
students apply to U.S. universities
in the first place. For the fall 2004
semester, 76 percent of U.S. graduate
schools reported declines in applications
from Chinese students and 58 percent reported
declines from Indian students, according
to a survey of 113 graduate schools
by the Council of Graduate Schools.5
The historic contributions made to the
United States by immigrants in key fields is a
major reason these trends have raised alarm
bells. An underreported phenomenon in the
media and history textbooks is how signifi-
cant a role immigrants have played in U.S.
dominance of technological fields. While
much recent news coverage has focused on
high-skilled foreign-born professionals as a
source of competition for native-born computer
programmers and systems analysts,
little attention has been paid to the enormous
contributions-both individually and
collectively-foreign-born individuals have
played in U.S. world leadership in science
and technology. To cite some examples:
While many scientists played a role in
developing the atomic bomb, Russianborn
George Kistiakowsy, who designed
the bomb's plutonium core, and Hungarian-
born John von Neumann, who turned
mathematical calculations into computer
language, receive much of the credit.
Moreover, Hans Bethe believed that the
development of the modern computer
would have been delayed 10 years without
John von Neumann.6
Examining Nobel Prizes and other
awards, a 1997 National Academy of Sciences
report concluded, "[I]t is fairly clear
that Americans with recent roots are overrepresented
in any classification of Americans
who have brought honor and
recognition to the United States."7
Today, more than 50 percent of the engineers
with Ph.D.s working in the United
States are foreign-born, according to the
National Science Foundation. In addition,
45 percent of math and computer scientists
with Ph.D.s, as well as life scientists and
physicists, are foreign-born. Among master's
degree recipients working today, 29.4
percent of engineers, 37 percent of math
and computer scientists, and 25 percent of
physicists are foreign-born.8 These data
help illuminate the significant role immigrant
scientists and engineers play in the
United States.
Despite some attention paid to the
achievements of immigrants, no one has
documented the contributions made by the
children of immigrants to the math and science
base of the United States. The limitation
of available data is a primary reason
the contributions of the children of immigrants
are rarely examined. "Standard data
sources, including most biographical references,
rarely report all the information necessary
to record the number of immigrants
among prizewinners or selected professions.
Place of birth (and sometimes citizenship)
is usually available, but details
about the person's naturalization and the
nativity of her or his parents are rarely
available," concluded the National Academy
of Sciences. "This means that estimates
of the numbers of the second generation
are almost never available."9
This study closes some of the gap in the
research literature. To conduct the research,
I consulted Web sites and interviewed finalists
of the 2004 Intel Science Talent Search,
top scorers of the U.S. Math Olympiad, and
members of the U.S. Physics Team, as well
as their parents, to obtain biographical and
immigration information.
espite some attention paid to the
achievements of immigrants, no one
has documented the contributions
made by the children of immigrants
to the math and science base of the
United States. D
S U M M E R 2 0 0 4 17
Intel Science Talent Search
Previously known as the Westinghouse talent
search or the "Junior Nobel Prize,"
more than 95 percent of winners of the Intel
Science Talent Search (STS) traditionally
have pursued science as a career, with 70
percent earning Ph.D.s or M.D.s.10 More
than 1,500 high school seniors entered the
contest in 2004 by completing a detailed
entry form that includes short essays on the
student's science interests, academic information,
and supporting statements from a
teacher/adviser and a supervisor of the student's
project. In addition, the student submits
a research paper of 20 pages or less that
documents his or her findings, including
possible laboratory results. The project
should display evidence of "research ability,
scientific originality, and creative
thinking."11 The top 40 finalists gathered in
Washington, D.C., in March 2004 for the
last phase of the competition.
After examining the immigration backgrounds
of the Intel STS finalists, the most
significant finding is that the proportion of
student finalists whose parents came to the
United States as professionals on H-1B
visas is extraordinary, indicating the United
States gains more than was previously realized
by the entry of skilled professionals.
Nearly half-18 of 40-of the finalists at
the Intel STS have parents who entered the
country on H-1B visas (known as H-1 prior
to 1990), which is more than the 16 children
whose parents were born in the
United States. Given that, in a U.S. population
of 293 million, fewer than 100,000 individuals
enter the United States each year
on H-1B visas, it demonstrates that this visa
category serves as a highly efficient means
of the United States assimilating many of
the world's future leading scientists.
A typical path for many H-1B visa holders,
which is limited to those in specialty
occupations who have received the equivalent
of a bachelor's degree or higher, is first
to attend a U.S. university. The father of
Ryna Karnik came to the United States
from India on a student visa to attend the
University of Texas at Austin and later obtained
an H-1B visa to begin a successful
career in high technology. His daughter
Ryna, who finished third in the competition,
designed a method for reproducing
and testing prototypes of semiconductor
chips, for which a patent is pending. "Since
many immigrants come here as students, it
works as a strong catalyst for their kids to
become focused on academics," she said.
The data bear out Ryna's observation.
Although a child of native-born parents,
Herbert Mason Hedberg, finished first in
the competition, nearly a quarter (9 of 40)
of Intel STS finalists' parents came to the
United States as international students. The
parents of Ann Chi came from Taiwan as
graduate students at the University at Buffalo,
the State University of New York.
Ann's father earned a Ph.D. and received
what was then an H-1 visa to teach at Indiana
State University, where he remains a
professor.12 Ann's sophisticated chemistry
research earned her eighth place in the
competition.
Students from immigrant families seem
acutely aware of the opportunity to excel
that their parents gave them by immigrating
to the United States. Qilei Hang, who
lives in Cumberland, Maryland, was born
in China. She came here as an 8-year-old
when her father pursued a Ph.D. in engineering
and later obtained an H-1B visa.
She told me, "If I were in China, I'd be
preparing for the big exam, the one that decides
whether you go into blue collar work
or get to go to college. In China, it's a oneshot
deal." Her work on using mathematical
modeling to increase the efficiency of
mineral reclamation is used today and has
been recognized by the Society for Mining,
Metallurgy, and Exploration.13
Russian-born Boris Alexeev, whose father
arrived on an H-1B visa to teach at the
University of Utah, garnered a secondplace
finish for mathematical work, the applications
of which range from deciphering
the genome and DNA to optical character
recognition. Boris also was one of the top
scorers in the 2004 U.S. Math Olympiad.
Haim Harel immigrated with his family
from Israel on an H-1B visa and has started
his third company, Clinton, N.J.-based
Magnolia Broadband, which employs 35
people. His son Matan's physics project involved
developing a mathematical model of
cell movement. "It's clear that the scientific
future of the United States is reinforced by
immigrants," said Haim Harel. "You see this
not only at this contest but at professional
conventions and at graduate schools."
The future scientific and medical accomplishments
of the Intel STS finalists are
likely to influence many U.S. families. Felicia
Yuen-Lee Yen, whose parents originally
came as students from China, developed a
diagnostic test to help predict tumor formation
in the early stages of breast cancer.
Felicia, a resident of Dix Hills, New York,
said she chose this research and plans to
study medicine in college because breast
cancer is the second-leading cause of death
among women in the United States, killing
40,000 a year. Earlier detection of tumor
growth could reduce the death rate from
breast cancer significantly.
Melis Nuray Anahtar's research may help
future burn and trauma victims. She designed
and built her own microchips to create
a device that isolates white blood cells in
a way that they can be examined. Since her
process takes 10 seconds, rather than the 30
minutes or longer for standard techniques,
it could allow diagnostic tests to be performed
on unaltered white blood cells. Her
father, an architect, entered on an H-1B
visa from Turkey and was later sponsored
for a green card by his employer.
Indian-born Divya Nettimi, whose father
came to the United States with an H-1B
visa, will attend Harvard and plans to become
a research scientist. Divya, a resident
of Oakton, Virginia, has developed theoretical
calculations that may enhance the understanding
of muscle activity. Her
biochemistry project involves "the rate at
which myosin, a molecular biomotor, reacts
with adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an
energy source, and drives muscle contraction."
14 Neha Chauhan, whose parents also
entered from India on H-1B visas, has re-
Source: National Foundation for American Policy
interviews with finalists and parents.
Table 1 Children of Immigrants Among
2004 Intel Science Talent
Search Finalists
Out of 40 High School Seniors
60%
(24)
searched food nutrients and compounds
that can help prevent Alzheimer's disease.
Neha has founded a national organization
to increase understanding of Alzheimer's
among younger U.S. citizens.
One should not infer from these examples
that the United States gains only from
the entry of high-skilled professionals and
their children. Immigration is the crucial
factor in determining whether labor force
growth in the United States rises or becomes
stagnant as in Western Europe. Parents
of 6 of the 40 finalists arrived through
the general openness of the United States'
immigration system, as opposed to its employment-
based part. Three family-sponsored
immigrants and two refugees are
among the finalists.
The mother of Romanian-born Andrei
Munteanu came to the United States after
winning the sometimes-criticized Diversity
Visa Lottery, which allows individuals from
countries with less immigration to the
United States to receive up to 50,000 visas a
year. Inspired by the movies Armageddon
and Sudden Impact, Andrei has performed
research that could contribute to saving us
all-literally. He invented a new algorithm
to predict collisions between Earth and asteroids.
Lisa Doreen Glukhovsky, whose parents
came to the United States as refugees
from Russia, has developed a "method of
measuring near-Earth asteroids [that] could
one day help mitigate the danger of asteroid
collisions with Earth."15 In an extraordinary
feat for an amateur astronomer, she used
high-resolution asteroid images at both a
European and a U.S. observatory to develop
a new approach to measuring the distances
of asteroids. Like many of the Intel STS finalists,
Lisa is fluent in multiple languages
(English, French, Russian, and Hebrew) and
plays classical music (piano and violin).
Both Daniel Chimin Choi and Duy Minh
Ha are in the United States because of family-
sponsored immigration. Choi, whose
South Korean-born parents were sponsored
by a sibling, plans to pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical
engineering. He constructed a fuel
cell "that derives electricity from bacterial
respiration," which improved generation by
750 percent compared with similar fuel
cells.16 Duy Minh Ha was born in Vietnam
and came to the United States after relatives
sponsored his family. Duy wants to dedicate
his life to studying neurodegenerative disorders.
His research on the impact of longterm
estrogen replacement therapy on white
and gray brain matter may provide clues for
lowering the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
U.S. Math Olympiad
The U.S. Math Olympiad, the nation's premiere
mathematics competition for high
school students, is also dominated by immigrants
and the children of immigrants.
Organized by the Mathematical Association
of America, each year an original
group of more than 250,000 students is reduced
to (a qualifying round) of 10,000.
From there, tests reduce the group to 250,
and finally to the top 24 scorers.
From these top scorers, six are chosen to
represent the United States at the International
Mathematical Olympiad. The book
Count Down by Steve Olson details the second-
place finish (tied with Russia) of the
2001 U.S. team. Four of the six team members
that year were the children of immigrants:
Tiankai Liu (born in China), Ian Le
(born in Australia to Vietnamese refugee
parents), David Shin (born in South
Korea), and Oaz Nir (born in the United
States to Israeli parents who immigrated to
Louisiana). The past representation of the
children of immigrants in these competitions
illustrate that the findings for 2004 in
math and science are not an anomaly but
part of a well-established pattern.17
Immigrants have played an important
role in fostering competitive mathematics
in the United States. Hungarian-born
mathematician George Berzsenyi is credited
by many with building the math competition
culture in this country, according
to Steven Dunbar, director of the American
Mathematics Competitions in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Romanian immigrant Titu Andreescu,
chair of the American
Mathematics Competitions, served as head
coach of the U.S. Math Team from 1996
until recently. When he traveled with the
team, observers dubbed him the "Bela
Karoly" of U.S. math, a reference to the Romanian-
born coach of the U.S. Olympic
champion women's gymnastic team.18
Among the top scorers of the 2004 U.S.
Math Olympiad, 65 percent (13 of 20)
were the children of immigrants. A remarkable
50 percent were born outside of
the United States (10 of 20). Both proportions
are higher than among the finalists of
the Intel STS.19
The immigration background of the parents
of the 2004 U.S. Math Olympiad top
scorers is similar to that of the Intel STS fi-
nalists. More of the Math Olympiad top
scorers have parents who received H-1B
visas (10) than parents born in the United
States (7). Twenty percent (4) of the parents
entered first as international students. Two
of the 20-Tony Zhang, born in China, and
Jongmin Baek, born in South Korea-came
to the United States when their U.S.-based
Source: National Foundation for American Policy
interviews with finalists and parents.
Table 2 Children of Immigrants
Among 2004 U.S. Math Olympiad
Top Scorers
Out of 20 High School Students
65%
(13)
18 I N T E R N A T I O N A L E D U C A T O R
f those who most oppose immigration
had succeeded over the past two
decades, two-thirds of the most outstanding
future scientists and mathematicians
in the United States would
not be in the country. I
relatives sponsored their parents for immigration.
Oleg Golberg arrived with his family
as a refugee from Russia.
Interviews with the parents and students
reveal a strong family culture of encouragement
at an early age. In a number of
cases, one finds a parents' professional experience
in mathematics, and, in several
instances, a student's interest in music.
Math and music are similar, according to
Jae Bae, who was born in South Korea and
lives today in Hackensack, New Jersey. Jae
used to play the piano and believes that a
good head for math and music go together.
The presence of many immigrant children
in the U.S. Math Olympiad is so notable
it is even a source of humor among
native-born U.S. parents. "My son is the
Jewish Caucasian representative," jokes
Elizabeth Batson, the mother of Joshua
Batson who was an honorable mention top
scorer in the 2004 U.S. Math Olympiad.
She credits immigrant parents for much of
their children's success. "There's a different
attitude and different priorities about
how kids spend their time."
"Most Asian American children don't
see themselves growing up to be NBA players,
captains of industry, or politicians....
But many believe that if they do well in
mathematics and science, they can succeed.
They can become scientists, engineers,
computer programmers,
physicians," writes Count Down author
Steve Olson. "All new immigrants to the
United States must work hard to succeed,
and they expect their children to work
hard, too."20
Olson argues that immigrant success in
the U.S. Math Olympiad is not coincidental.
In addition to the drive of the individuals
and their families, he points out
that because the students or their parents
are recent immigrants, "they speak more
than one language and have experience
with multiple cultures, which, as [Dean
Keith] Simonton demonstrated, can be a
source of creativity." Olson adds, "From
an early age they absorb the lesson that
they must work hard to do well in the
United States and that, if they master
mathematics and science, they are more
likely to succeed. Given the precarious
position of immigrant families in U.S. society,
the intensity of their drive to succeed
is hardly surprising.21
U.S. Physics Team
Nearly half the members of the U.S. Physics
Team are the children of immigrants-11
of 24, or 46 percent. In addition, 9 of 24 (or
38 percent) were born outside the United
States, primarily from China.
The annual competition organized by
the American Association of Physics Teachers
and the American Institute of Physics
begins each year with high school physics
teachers nominating outstanding students.
Then, after tabulating the scores of a series
of challenging exams, the field is winnowed
from 1,100 to 24. These 24 young people
make up the U.S. Physics Team. After another
week of exams, lab experiments, and
classroom work, five students were selected
to represent the United States in South
Korea at the 2004 International Physics
Olympiad.
Two of the five students chosen to represent
the United States this year are immigrants.
Elena Udovina, the only woman
among the five, was born in Russia. Her father,
Alexander Bogorad, came to the
United States six years ago on an H-1B visa
to work in the computer industry. Alexander
points to one explanation for the strong
showing of students with recent immigrant
roots. Based on Elena's experience, he estimates
that what U.S. students are taught in
twelfth grade math classes, Russian children
study in the eighth and ninth grade. "I don't
like saying this but math and physics are not
the strong side of American schools," said
Alexander. He believes U.S. schools need to
be more challenging and intensive in math
and science fields, and at an earlier age.
This may be difficult to accomplish in
the near future. In 2003, only 26 percent of
U.S. high school graduates achieved the
benchmark level on the ACT test in science,
a level considered necessary to have a reasonable
chance of completing first-year college
science courses. Fewer than half the
graduates even took three years of science
classes in high school, including physics,
notes the National Science Teachers Association.
Previous assessments have concluded
that, "on average, only one in five
American high school seniors has a solid
grasp of science." The association believes
recent emphasis on math and reading testing
could leave science out of the education
reform agenda.22
Yi Sun, only a sophomore at the Harker
School in San Jose, California, and the
youngest of the five team representatives,
was born in China. His parents, both
chemists, first went to Canada and then
came to the United States when his father
became a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University.
Yi sees a strong connection between
math and physics, having started in math
competitions in the seventh grade. Yi and
Elena both were among the top scorers in
the 2004 U.S. Math Olympiad.
Mix of Countries
Nearly all of the immigrant parents of U.S.
Physics Team members were born in
China. The parents of Elena Udovina, born
in Russia, are an exception. The foreignborn
parents of the 2004 U.S. Math
Olympiad's top scorers were divided
among South Korea (four), China (four),
Russia (three), and India (two). The Intel
STS finalists showed a more diverse mix of
foreign-born parents, including seven from
India, five from China, three from Taiwan,
two each from Russia and Ukraine, and one
each from Vietnam, Israel, Turkey, and
South Korea.
Policy to the Rescue?
If those who most oppose immigration had
succeeded over the past two decades, twothirds
of the most outstanding future scientists
and mathematicians in the United
States would not be in the country since
U.S. policy never would have allowed in
their parents. Any effort to preserve U.S.
strength in science and technology should
start by recognizing the key role that immi- Source: National Foundation for American Policy
interviews with finalists and parents.
Table 3 Children of Immigrants
On 2004 U.S. Physics Team
Out of 24 High School Students
46%
(11)
S U M M E R 2 0 0 4 19
grants and their children play in the nation's
leadership in these fields. As the research
detailed here demonstrates, the
contributions made by the children of immigrants
are beyond that ever considered
by policymakers.
Some observers have noted the problem
of placing excessive constraints on the entry
of individuals who would come to work
and study in the United States. "A minor
exodus also hit one of the hidden strengths
of American science: vast ranks of bright
foreigners. In a significant shift of demographics,
they began to leave in what experts
call a reverse brain drain. After
peaking in the mid-1990s, the number of
doctoral students from China, India, and
Taiwan with plans to stay in the United
States began to fall by the hundreds," reported
The New York Times. "These declines
are important, analysts say, because
new scientific knowledge is an engine of the
American economy and technical innovation,
its influence evident in everything
from potent drugs to fast computer chips."23
However, the National Science Board,
noting the future need for scientists, mathematicians,
and engineers to keep the
United States' competitive edge, has declared,
"Even if action is taken today to
change these trends, the reversal is 10 to 20
years away." This is not necessarily the case.
With a relatively open immigration policy,
the future will not be bleak in this area.
When immigrants are allowed to come to
the United States legally and stay, the nation
also in many cases gains the future
skills of outstanding children who become
U.S. citizens. The question is whether the
United States will maintain a student and
immigration system that is open enough to
integrate that talent into U.S. society-or
will policymakers push or keep that talent
out of the United States?
Other trends are within the control of
U.S. policymakers. For example, for the
fourth time in the last decade, the annual
cap of 65,000 on H-1B visas has been
reached early in the fiscal year, meaning that
for several months U.S. employers cannot
hire skilled foreign-born professionals on
new visas. While in previous years Congress
eventually increased the limits, to date there
has been no legislative action on increasing
the cap. Soon a vicious cycle may emerge
that will harm the United States' future
competitiveness in science and technology:
Without a cap increase in the near future,
employers would soon face year-long waits
to hire new professionals out of U.S. colleges,
as backlogs from previous H-1B applications
soak up visas that would have
gone to new hires. Finding they are forbidden
to engage in such new hiring inside the
United States, U.S. companies will hire
more highly skilled people outside the
country. And realizing that a U.S. education
is not likely to lead to employment in the
United States, many international students
will decide to attend universities elsewhere.
Keeping the Door Open
While some have decried the "exporting" of
U.S. jobs and intellectual capital, many of
those individuals also oppose the nation's
openness to skilled professionals and students
entering the county on temporary
visas, ironically, a key source of maintaining
and expanding the United States' intellectual
base in science, mathematics, and technology.
Previously it was thought with these
restrictions on immigration the United
States lost only the skills of such professionals.
Now we understand the United States
loses those professionals' children, too, perhaps
an even more significant blow.
Those who wonder from where the next
generation of U.S. scientists and mathematicians
will come should look closely at
the small children standing next to their
parents as they take the oath of citizenship
to the United States of America. Closing
50% 38% 25%
Source: National Foundation for American Policy interviews with students and parents.
20 I N T E R N A T I O N A L E D U C A T O R
Source: National Foundation for American Policy interviews with
finalists and parents. Note: Totals add up to more than 40 and
100 percent since Student Visa Holders later also received H-1B
status to stay in the United States.
Table 5 Immigration History of Parents of
2004 Intel Science Talent Search
Finalists
Out of 40 Students
H-1B Visa Holder
45% (18)
Native Born
40% (16)
Student
Visa
Holder
22.5%
(9)
Family-based
Immigrant
7.5% (3)
Refugee 5% (2)
Diversity Visa
2.5% (1)
he question is whether the United
States will maintain a student and
immigration system that is open enough
to integrate that talent into U.S. society-
or will policymakers push or keep
that talent out of the United States? T
Table 4 Students Who Are Immigrants in 2004 Competitions
Percentage of Foreign-Born Students
U.S. Math Olymiad Top Scorers U.S. Physics Team Intel Science
Talent Search Finalists
Source: National Foundation for American Policy interviews with
finalists and parents. Note: Totals add up to more than 20 and
100 percent since Student Visa Holders later also received H-1B
status to stay in the United States. Canadian participants and one
participant on a student visa from Thailand were not included.
Table 6 Immigration History of Parents of
2004 Math Olympiad Top Scorers
Out of 20 Students
H-1B Visa Holder
50% (10)
Native Born
35% (7)
Student
Visa
Holder
20%
(4)
Family-based
Immigrant
10% (2)
Refugee 5% (1)
S U M M E R 2 0 0 4 21
Endnotes
1. Interviews with author; Intel Science Talent
Search 2003 Winners, Intel STS. Unless otherwise
noted, all quotations were obtained from personal
interviews with students, parents, or event and team
organizers.
2. In FY2004, a cap of 65,000 new H-1B visa holders
has been in force, in addition to allowing an estimated
15,000 individuals who are exempt from the cap,
including those hired by universities, according to the
Department of Homeland Security. Previous years had
somewhat higher totals but would remain less than
0.04 percent of the U.S. population.
3. William J. Broad, "U.S. Is Losing Its Dominance
in the Science," The New York Times, May 3, 2004.
4."An Emerging and Critical Problem of the Science
and Engineering Labor Force," A Companion to
Science and Engineering Indicators 2004, The
National Science Board, National Science Foundation,
January 2004. Skill-related visas include H-1B, L-1, H-
3, O-1, O-2, and TN visas. Visa applications refused for
F-1 students increased from 27.3 percent in 2001 to
35.2 percent in 2003. For J-1 exchange visitors, the
number refused increased from 7.8 percent to 15.9 percent
between 2001 and 2003.
5. "Council of Graduate Schools Survey Finds
Widespread Declines in International Gradate Student
Applications to U.S. Graduate Schools for Fall 2004,"
Press Release, March 2, 2004, Council of Graduate
Schools.
6. Stuart Anderson, In Defense of a Nation, The
Military Contributions of Immigrants, Empower
America and the American Immigration Law
Foundation, 1996; and Laura Fermi, Illustrious
the door to immigrants, students, and
skilled professionals hurts the United States
today-and for a generation yet to come.
- Stuart Anderson, former staff director of
the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, is
executive director of the National Foundation
for American Policy, a nonpartisan public policy
research organization in Arlington, Virginia.
Immigrants, Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1968, pp. 187 and 290.
7. The New Americans, National Academy of
Sciences, 1997 (advance copy), Chapter 8, p.15.
8. Science and Engineering Indicators 2004, The
National Science Board, National Science Foundation,
January 2004.
9. The New Americans, Chapter 8, p. 15.
10. 2004 Finalists, booklet from Intel Science Talent
Search, 2004, p. 3. Previously the Westinghouse
Foundation sponsored the competition. The Intel
Corporation became the new sponsor in 1998.
11. Facts and Official Entry Form, 2003-04, Intel
Science Talent Search, p. 7.
12. In 1990, Congress redesignated the H-1 visa as
H-1B and set an annual cap of 65,000 and made other
changes.
13. Finalists, p. 11. Interview with author.
14. Finalists, p. 17.
15. Ibid., p. 17.
16. Ibid., p. 7.
17. Steve Olson; Count Down, Houghton Mifflin
Co., New York, NY, 2004, pp. 141, 150.
18. Ibid., pp. 41-42.
19. These totals for the U.S. Math Olympiad did not
include Canadians and one international student from
Thailand who participated.
20. Ibid., pp. 145-46.
21. Ibid., p. 146.
22. "NSTA Cites Neglect of K-12 Science Education
as Cause for Low Benchmark Achievement on ACT
Science Test," Press Release, National Science Teachers
Association, August 21, 2003.
23. See note 3.