International students as consumers in a knowledge based

How did that make you feel?› Angry? At whom?› Fearful?

Did you trust what you heard? Can you believe in Mr. Bilirakis? Is this a political foothold for him? Given the combination of political

positioning and the media’s need for sensationalism, do you question the veracity of the story ?

There are wandering bands of international students in the U.S. waiting to commit terrorist attacks.

International students should be tracked more closely with greater institutional compliance.

This is a big problem.

As education leaders, we must look below the surface to understand the complexity and entirety of any issue or situation.

The tip of the iceberg is just the beginning of the story.

The only population more monitored and subject to oversight in the U.S. than international students are those in the penal system.

International students make up a very small percentage of foreign nationals entering the U.S.

Georg Reisch, Executive Secretary, European Free Trade Association Raul Ricardo Alfonsin, President of Argentina

Guido Di Tella, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina Salma Khan, Divisional Chief in Bangladesh, Sanchez de Lozada Bustamante, President of Bolivia

Jorge Quiroga Ramirez, Vice President of Bolivia Francois-Xavier De Donnea, Mayor of Brussels Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada Boutros Boutros-Ghali, UN Secretary-General  Francisco Flores, President of El Salvador Ernst Carl Julius Albrecht, Prime Minister of Germany Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General Adamantios Androutsopoulos, Prime Minister of Greece Juwono Sudarsono, Minister of Defense in Indonesia

Yahya Muhaimin, Minister of National Education in Indonesia Ehud Barak, Prime Minister in Israel Abdullah Bin Al-Hussein, King of Jordan Kang Young Hoon, Prime Minister of Korea Mahathir bin Mohammed, Prime Minister of Malaysia

Vicente Fox, President of MexicoCarlos Salinas de Gortari, President of MexicoHerminio Blanco Mendoza, Secretary of Commerce/ Industrial Dev. In Mexico

Prince Albert of Monaco Birendra Bir Birkram Shah Dev, King of Nepal Antonio Lacayo Oyanguren, Minister of Presidency of Nicaragua Benazir Bhutto, President of Pakistan Alejandro Toledo, President of Peru Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of Philippines Fidel Ramos, President of Philippines

Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, President of Philippines Goh Chok Tong, Prime Minister of Singapore Javier Solana, NATO Secretary-General John Chang, Vice Premier of Taiwan

Lee Teng-hui, President of TaiwanChen Li-An, Minister of National Defense of TaiwainSuleyman Demirel, President of Turkey

Canaan Sodindo Banana, President of Zimbabwe

They are all world leaders who have studied in the United States!

Limiting or providing greater restrictions for international students to study in the U.S. in the name of homeland security ultimately impedes the active exchange ideas, cultures and viewpoints (Burnett, 2005).

Many of the international students in theU.S. are graduate students whose researchhas not only provided important advancesin various disciplines but have alsogenerated a great deal of profit andnotoriety for U.S. companies (Hamermesh,2006).

Since 1971, nearly 5,000,000 international students have studied in the United States (Spilimbergo, 2009).

International students contributed over 17 billion dollars to the U.S. economy in the last academic year (Institute of International Education, 2009).

As consumers, their choices are influenced by,› Price› Value› Access › Competition› Long term benefits› Geopolitical changes

Transnational education is growing and the market reacts appropriately to changes. For example, following the implementation of restrictive government measures in the U.S. and Australia:

› Canada saw a huge increase in students from predominately Muslim countries at the same time that the United States saw a precipitous decline in this same population.

› New Zealand saw a big increase in international students just as Australia saw a 40% decline.

How doesthe U.S.find therightstabilitywithsecurityMeasures?

How doesthe U.S.continue topreserveLeadershipProminenceon a globalscale?While at the same

time…

The concern for U.S. security is justifiable, but security measures need to be realistic and meaningful. Mr. Bilirakis’ new regulations would require international students to be reported on every 30 days. The amount of resources required on behalf of U.S. educational institutions to accomplish this would be extraordinary. In addition, it sends the wrong message to the larger global community. Taking cues from Economics and Business, policy makers and government institutions should step outside of their current frames of reference and view international students as valued consumers. Access to information, knowledge and exchange are democratic ideas that are keys to success in the 21st century knowledge-based economy.

ABC Action News. (2010, May 19). Investigation: Government Losing Track of Foreign Students. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from ABC Action News: http://www.abcactionnews.com/content/taking_action_for_you/investigations/story/INVESTIGATION-Government-losing-track-of-foreign/aU4B8qriIUKI9OrDtYOGYQ.cspx

Birrell, B., & Smith, F. T. (2010). Export earnings from the Overseas Student Industry: How Much? Australian Universities Review , 4-12.

Burnett, P. T. (2005). Information Access and Exchange among Small Worlds in a Democratic Society: The Role of Policy in Shaping Information Behavior in the Post‐9/11 United States. The Library Quarterly , 464-495.

Economic Times. (2010, May 12). Overseas students to Australia down 40 per cent. Retrieved May 25, 2010, from India Times: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/travel/visa-power/Overseas-students-to-Australia-down-40-per-cent/articleshow/5921862.cms

Farrow, S. (2007). The Economics of Homeland Security Expenditures: foundational expected cost-effectiveness approaches. Contemporary Economic Policy , 14-26.

Federal Registrar. (2008, September 26). Federal Registrar, Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement .

Federation for American Immigration. (2004, February). Identity and Immigration Status of 9-11 Terrorists. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from Federation for American Immigration:

http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecentersc582

Gilbert, J. (2010, May 12). Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from Foreign Student Numbers Rising: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/3684272/Foreign-student-numbers-rising/

Government Security News. (2010, May 7). Government Security News. Retrieved May 21, 2010, from Rep Bilirakis Introduces Legislation to Tighten Foreign Student Visa Security: http://www.gsnmagazine.com/article/20672/rep_bilirakis_introduces_legislation_tighten_forei

Hamermesh, D. S. (2006, June). Value of Peripatetic Ecomics. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from National Bureau of Economic Review: http://www.nber.org/papers/w11453

Institute of International Education. (2009, November 16). Record Numbers of International Studetns in U.S. Higher Education. Retrieved May 15, 2010, from IIE: Press Releases: http://www.iie.org/en/Who-We-Are/News-and-Events/Press-Center/Press-Releases/2009/2009-11-16-Record-Number-Of-Students

Lu, M. (2008). Not Part of the Family: U.S. Immigration Policy and International Students. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from HEINONLINE: http://heinonline.org

Mueller, R. (2009). Does the Statue of Liberty Still Face Out? The Diversion of Foreign Students from the United States to Canada. Canadian Journal of Higher Education , 14-43.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2009). Education at a Glance. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: www.oecd.org

Spencer, A. (2008). Investigating the "Immigrant Terrorist" as a National Security Concern. Journal for the Study of Peace and Conflict , 53-71.

Spilimbergo, A. (2009). Democracy and Foreign Education. American Economic Review , 528-543.