Legislation Introduced to Aid Foreign Graduate Students

Press Release, American Council on Education
April 6, 2004
http://www.acenet.edu/hena/readArticle.cfm?articleID=590

Currently, there are only a certain number of work visas given out to foreign students earning master’s degrees and Ph.D.’s. The labor demand for graduate students within math and science, a large percentage from foreign countries, has grown to the point in which there are more work visas required than currently available.

Because of this problem, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced legislation to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act on April 2. The act would provide an exemption to the current H-1B visa cap for a limited number of foreign students earning master’s degrees and Ph.D.’s from American universities.