Science Policy Research Report: Student Visa Policy and the Scientific Workforce

来自世界各地的学生来到美国注册本科和研究生水平的学院和大学。许多在美国高校就读的外国学生都持F-1学生签证，2015年共发放了644,233份F-1签证。学生签证政策的最佳设计取决于成本和收益的衡量，认识到这些影响可能因学位水平或学习领域而异。为与学生签证相关的政策评估提供信息的关键实证问题包括：外国学生如何影响本国学生的教育成果，特别是在科学学科方面？在美国留学的外国学生是否会继续留在美国的劳动力市场？在美国获得学位并坚持在美国的科学劳动力市场工作的外国出生学生对创新和经济增长的贡献是什么？这份研究报告对持F-1签证在美国高校注册的外国学生的分布情况进行了丰富的描述，并按原籍国和学习项目进行了分类。该分析的主要数据来源是2004-2015年F-1签证接受者的数据。这些数据来自管理记录，包括超过500万条个人级别的记录，并确定每个学生的身份。学生的预期学位、学习科目、在美国的高等教育机构、城市和原籍国，以及表明出勤成本、财政支持、开始-结束日期以及学生是否追求OPT的变量。该报告将这些数据与现有的关于国际学生流向美国高等教育和科学劳动力市场的社会科学研究证据相结合。除了综合现有证据外，本报告还指出了测量的一些挑战。总体而言，本研究报告为学生签证政策的讨论提供了一个全面的框架，现有政策证据的清单，未来数据需求的路线图。

Students from around the world come to the U.S. to enroll in colleges and universities at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Many of the students from abroad enrolling at U.S. colleges and universities enter on F-1 student visas, with 644,233 F-1 visas awarded in 2015. The optimal design of student visa policy depends on the measurement of costs and benefits, recognizing that these effects may differ by degree level or area of study. Key empirical questions that inform policy evaluation related to student visas include: How do foreign students affect the educational outcomes of native students, particularly in scientific disciplines? Do students from abroad who study in the U.S. persist in the U.S. labor market? What are the contributions to innovation and economic growth generated by foreign-born students who receive degrees in the U.S. and persist in the U.S. scientific labor market? This research report provides a rich descriptive picture of the distribution of students from abroad enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities on F-1 visas by country of origin and program of study over time. The primary data source informing this analysis is the universe of F-1 visa recipients (2004-2015). These data, which are from administrative records, include over 5 million records at the individual level and identifies each student?s intended degree, subject of study, post-secondary institution in the U.S., city and country of origin, along with variables indicating cost of attendance, financial support, beginning-end dates, and whether the student pursued OPT. The report aligns these data with the existing social science research evidence on international student flows to U.S. higher education and the scientific labor market. Beyond synthesizing available evidence, this report identifies some of the challenges of measurement. Overall, this research report provides a comprehensive framework for discussions of student visa policy, an inventory of existing policy evidence, a roadmap for future data needs.